Hempfling House, 4633 River Road (State Route 8), Stringtown

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,8-STRITO.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Hempfling House is an uncommon and well-preserved example of the Homestead House, a house type popular during the early 20 1h century in northern Kentucky. It reflects the influence of national house types and forms. Narrow and rectangular in form, Homestead Houses stand two or two-and-a-half stories high, with forward-facing gables; facades may include two windows, or a door and a window. Ideally suited to compact city lots, Boone County's Homestead Houses are exclusively found in or near towns. Description: The Hempfling House is tall and compact in form, with forward-facing gable. The main block stands two and a half stories high, 18 feet wide and 38 feet deep. The narrow main facade contains a doorway and a window.

Extending across the facade is a full-width wooden porch with shed roof, gabled pediment, chamfered posts and a crossbuck-pattern balustrade. A shed-roofed porch, borne by turned posts, shelters the east elevation. A shallow, one-story addition was appended to the west side of the house at an unknown date, most likely in the early to mid-20th century. It features an asymmetrical gabled roof with longer rear slope and rests on a concrete block foundation. A brick chimney, with straight stack, was appended to the west elevation around the same time. The interior features a linear plan with an open staircase placed against the west wall. The house has been vacant for eight years and has endured some vandalism and water damage.

At the eastern edge of the property stand two small frame sheds of utilitarian design that appear to have been built in the early 20 1h century. They are clad in vertical wood siding and rest on fieldstone foundations. The larger of the two has a side-gabled roof with brick chimney; the smaller has a shed roof. History: This house was built c. 190 I for Adam Hempfling and his wife, Emma Kottmyer Hempfling, and remained in their family for six generations. Both Adam and Emma Hempfling were descended from German immigrants who settled in northeastern Boone County in the first half of the century. Adam Hempfling was a carpenter/builder and truck farmer who constructed the house himself. The couple raised ten children in the house.

In Adam Hempfling died suddenly of a heart attack while his wife was pregnant with their eleventh child. After the last child reached adulthood, Emma Hempfling moved to California; the house then passed to the next generation. The house then had a series of owners until it was purchased by the Kenton County Airport Board for the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,8-STRITO.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Boone County Deed Records. HEMPFLING HOUSE HABS No. (Page 2) Boone County Marriage Records. Boone County Tax Records. Conrad, John. The Top ofKentucky: An Educational and Historical Tour Through Northern Boone County. Published privately by author, Boone County Public Library, Florence. Lake, DJ. An Atlas of Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties, Kentucky. Philadelphia: Lake and Company, Sprague, Wanda Hempfling. Interview by Margo Warminski, June United States Federal Population Census for Boone County.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,8-STRITO.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

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