Widmann photo exhibit in Riordan Building

FLAGSTAFF (Feb. 14, 2007) ─  After returning from a long overdue visit to her home state of Kentucky, Ann Widmann exhibited images of two buildings her paternal grandfather, John Francis “Frank” Brewer, erected.

 "Growing up in Louisville, Ky., I remember going to the country many a Sunday during my childhood, which generally meant Nelson County around Bloomfield, where my mother was born and Fairfield, my father's birthplace," Widmann said.

"I knew my father's dad, Frank Brewer, was a master builder in his day and that the Great Depression hit the family hard. That's what brought them to Louisville where my father remained the rest of his 89 years."

 One if the structures depicted, now houses a Motherhouse for the Sisters of the Dominican Order, and sits on the campus of St. Catharine's College near Springfield. Erected in 1904, this building replaced another, which burned at another spot on campus and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 Today, it holds congregational offices, chapels, living space for the sisters and St. Catharine College educational facilities. Until St. Catharine’s Academy closed in 1971, its classrooms and dorms were there as well.

 “I can remember being there before but I’m not sure at what age," Widmann said. "I do know I was never inside and was very impressed with the elegant lines that prevail throughout the interior. I had no idea how talented my grandfather was."

 “Dana Lear, St. Catharine’s Motherhouse public relations director, gave me a red carpet tour of the facility and answered my questions as I picked out the photos for this exhibit.”

There were also photos of the old Opera House, located at the northeast corner of 2nd and Broadway in Bardstown,Ky., that Frank Brewer built during his heyday circa 1900-04.  The building now houses the War Memorial Museum of Mid America and all the original indoor features such as the stage have been removed.

"In Janary, I visited with my cousin Father Joseph Batcheldor in Bardstown, who told me about the opera house. He also mentioned that a there was bed and breakfast in town with a spiral staircase that George Batcheldor built.  (He was my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. )"

Born in 1810 at Holliston, Middlesex, Mass., he was a builder and an architect, hired in 1838 to erect a spiral staircase in the Gault House, a hotel in downtown Louisville.

A year or so later he went to Bloomfield to build another circular staircase in a residence there.

A Rosemark Haven, a bed and breakfast in Bardstown built in 1848, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and provides luxury overnight accommodations for up to 16 people.

It also includes the Federal House, a separate edifice containing two bedrooms, two living rooms and a rustic kitchen.

 A brochure describing the facility points out that the three-story spiral staircase is very popular with wedding parties.

George Batcheldor stayed on in Nelson County, designing churches and mansions throughout Nelson and adjoining counties, eventually acquiring this moniker: "the Man Who Built Bloomfield."

Widmann’s final series of prints were black and white images of Rancho Guajome, then an old hacienda under renovation and built in the 1850s on an original Mexican land grant near Vista, Calif., in northern San Diego County.

“Initially, the rancho prints were going to be the bulk of the show, but after I found the treasures my grandfathers left behind, I included them as well,” Widmann said.

“As far as Frank Brewer’s and George Batcheldor's edifices go, some can be still be found in small Kentucky towns as well a school in Memphis, Tenn. I plan to photograph as many as I can while there are still family members around to point them out to me.”