About Charred Oaks Inn... Richard and Pamela Riley purchased the home in May of 2015. They are honored to be the first owners outside the family and are proud to share its history with their guests. Although no famous personage was born or resided in the house, it is a notable fact that the house was continuously owned and occupied by the descendants of an Irishman, Oliver Brown, for 200+ years – many of whom are buried in the family cemetery nearby. The main house was built in 1810 by Oliver Brown and is an excellent example of early 1800’s Kentucky Vernacular architecture with stone pilasters and a dog trot. Mr. Brown, a stone mason, had lived and worked in Frankfort, Kentucky where he was in charge of the masonry for the rebuilding of the second Kentucky statehouse. In partial payment for his work in Frankfort, he received 300 acres just outside the town of Versailles (pronounced ver-SALES). Brown built his family home with a front wall in the handsome Flemish bond typical of the era. As usual, side and back walls are common bond. The entrance to the property is marked by a stone wall and the circular driveway leads back to a stone porch with bush-hammered and chiseled porch pillars (thought to be stone from the original farmstead). The farmstead flourished as did the family’s prominence in the community and in the horse industry. In 1960, the family owned a beautiful thoroughbred named Ballyache who placed second in the Kentucky Derby and won the Preakness that year. In 1957, a descendant of Oliver Brown commissioned a cousin, Lexington architect Robert McMeekin, to design and build a two-story wing at the left of the 1810 house. In the original front rooms, McMeekin installed crown moldings and wainscoting. He replaced the hall’s original steep corner staircase with an open flight, added new modern bathrooms and he refinished the Heart Pine floors in the original section of the house and used Ash in the new addition. In keeping with the house’s history and original renovations, Pamela and Richard decided to keep and update the beautiful, large, mid-century modern bathrooms with all their 1950’s splendor. The house sits on 3.5 lush, park-like acres and is surrounded by old white oak, hard maple, sycamore, dogwood, linden and magnolia trees, as well as numerous boxwoods. Also on the grounds is a brick patio on the backside of the house, connecting the patio to the dog trot providing a delightful escape for guests to enjoy breakfast and/or read and relax.