You are in for a treat today as we have arranged a special video tour of Malvern House, built in 1914 by by famed architect Ogden Codman Jr. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, Malvern House is the home of designer Lee W. Robinson, founder of the Lee W. Robinson Company, and his wife Babs.

In 1897, Ogden Codman Jr. and Edith Wharton co-wrote The Decoration of Houses which is known to this day as one of the most important decorating books ever written.  All of these principles were incorporated into the design of Malvern House. The landscaping was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture and co-designer of Central Park.

Commissioned by Babs’s great-grandparents, Codman completed his design of the house in 1914, and building was completed in 1922. The home stayed in the family until 1992 when it was sold to the former Kentucky governor’s wife. In 2007 Babs and Lee purchased the home, which had become vacant and neglected. Lee spent two years bringing the estate back to life, incorporating furniture and treasures that had been in the family for generations. Using original Olmsted blueprints, in 2011 they began to restore Malvern’s 15 acres of grounds and gardens. Once the overgrowth was cut back, long-buried brick walkways were unearthed and the skeleton of the Olmsted plan emerged and was brought back to life.

Click here to watch the video, and here to learn more about the rich history of Malvern House, including how Babs’s family was saved from an ill-fated trip aboard the Titanic in 1912!

Below are a few of our favorite images of this exquisite home…

You can also see Malvern House decorated for Christmas in all its festive splendor here. To learn more about Lee Robinson please visit his website, and for ongoing inspiration and information, please follow @leerobinsoncompany on Instagram.