During your visit to the Ashland Estate, enjoy a guided tour of the historic mansion and be sure to allow additional time to see the Henry Clay exhibit room and an informational video about Henry Clay. Outdoor options are plentiful with a self-guided tour of the outbuildings, formal gardens and grounds.
Historic Mansion
Enter through the front door of the mansion, the centerpeice of the Henry Clay Estate and begin a journey through the Clay family mansion from the 18th century to the present with a knowledgeable docent. The present structure of the mansion was completed by Clay’s son James in 1857 and stands on the site of the original Ashland mansion. Throughout the historic mansion you will discover treasures belonging to Ashland’s collection, a collection that is known as one of the finest of any historic house museum in the United States.
The First Floor
Your guided tour of the mansion starts in the Entrance Hall, decorated in Ash woodwork, Pompeian red walls and gilt cornice and medallion. Just to the left of the Entrance Hall is the Study filled with artifacts that illustrate Clay’s success as both a lawyer and “The Farmer of Ashland.” Enter into the Drawing Room, the most formal room of the house where guests gathered to socialize and for music. Highlights in the Drawing Room include Clay family pieces from different generations such as the painting of George and Martha Washington given to Henry Clay as a gift for his wife Lucretia. In the Dining Room is an American Empire style table with two banquet ends that extend the table to accommodate large formal dinners and portraits of Anne Clay McDowell, her husband, Henry Clay McDowell, and her parents Henry Clay, Jr. and Julia Prather Clay. One of the most unusual rooms in the mansion is the Library with its octagonal plan and vaulted, domed ceiling designed by Benjamin Latrobe, the architect of the United States Capitol.
The Second Floor
Ascending the stairs to the second floor of the mansion you will come to the Henry Clay Bedroom featuring Henry Clay’s bed crafted by Lexington’s William C. Bell and objects that belonged to Clay found in the original house. Adjoining the Henry Clay Room is the Dressing Room set up to reflect an original Dressing Room of the time. The Dressing Room also pays tribute to the enslaved African Americans at Ashland and to slavery, the issue that defined Henry Clay’s time. Up the hall from the Dressing Room is the Nursery. This small children’s Nursery and playroom houses two cribs used by the Clay children and grandchildren. Replicating the bedrooms of McDowell daughters, the Daughters Bedroom includes memorabilia from Nannette’s, Julia’s and Madeline’s lives during their time at Ashland.
Outbuildings
In addition to the historic mansion you can explore the site’s outbuildings. Learn about the food and drink stored in the Ice Houses and Dairy Cellar. See the rafters where the prize county hams once hung while a slow fire provided the smoke to preserve and flavor them in the Smokehouse. In the east wing of the Smokehouse you will find the stately C-spring coach gifted to Henry Clay by the people of Newark, New Jersey in 1833. Inside the Wash House and Privy, a building that was once essential to daily life, you will find an exhibit of items unearthed on the site during archaeological investigations. In the front lawn of the main house are the remains of a Springfield Gas Machine, thought to have been installed by Clay’s granddaughter’s family in the late 19th century.
Gardens and Grounds
The 17-acre estate includes most of the original domestic landscape of Ashland as well as the edges of what were savanna pastures when the Clays and the McDowells lived at Ashland. Explore Ashland’s formal garden, or take a stroll along one of the estate’s trails surrounded by blue ash, paper birch and maple trees.
Shopping in the Ashland Museum Store
Be sure to stop by the Ashland Museum Store located in the historic mansion. Gifts and keepsakes unique to Henry Clay’s Ashland Estate and Kentucky are available to purchase.
- Guided tours of the mansion last approximately one hour.
- From May through September the Ginkgo Tree Café, on the brick patio behind the old Smokehouse, serves sandwiches, salads, hot and cold soups, homemade desserts, snacks and beverages.