Captain Samuel Taylor House (Batchelor’s Barter)
500 Chatham Road, Harrodsburg, KY
In 1790, Samuel Taylor built this house on the banks of Shawnee Run. The original portion is a two and one half story house made of roughly shaped limestone laid in irregular courses. Centered above the main door keystone is a circular stone with the initials "S.T.” at the top and the date "1790" inscribed at the bottom. Tooled around the inside of the stone is the motto "Look to your laws rather than to your progenitors for your inheritance.” The original floor plan of the stone house was based on the hall-and-parlor plan, with the front entrance opening onto a large room with a partition off center, dividing the first floor into two. The original kitchen was in the basement. It had a large fireplace and a dumbwaiter to lift the hot food from the kitchen to the dining room. An underground tunnel to the springhouse connected from the kitchen.