On April 29th, an event called “Beyond the Curb urban living tour” took place in Covington.

The Catalytic Development Funding Corp. of Northern Kentucky (The Catalytic Fund) is a private sector, not-for-profit organization. The tour knocked everyone’s socks off, mine included. One thing everybody was infatuated with: Culture; in all its forms and fashions, the historic buildings, the local businesses, views of public art and interactive experiences.

The tour began with event registration at Hotel Covington, and what a great place to start it. The beautiful, modern elements of the interior manage to complement, rather than subtract, from the old building. Once you’re in the Hotel Covington you are given a booklet and a little paper that contains all sixteen locations on the tour. All of the locations are within walking distance, but some strategic planning is required to hit all of them. At leach location there is someone to greet you and mark on your list of locations. The two buildings that really caught my attention on the tour were 420 Scott St. and 502 Madison Ave.

Four hundred and twenty Scott Street also known as Boone Block, was built in 1872. The building was originally constructed for 11 residential units and one commercial space on the ground floor. In 1950 the two end units were torn down and the space was used for parking. Today, the Boone Block is Nine individually deeded townhomes; single family residences ranging in size from 2,185 to 5,000 square feet, with original foundation basements, one oversized car garage, and three floors not even including the basement! Before and after pictures of the recent renovation were shown, which highlighted just how much work had gone into the building.
Perhaps one of the most striking elements of this building, was that the kitchen and patio were on the third floor; giving a beautiful view of the city. I can only imagine dinner every night with a view that beautiful, but it does leave me wondering how I would get my groceries up three flights of steps.

My other favorite building on the tour was 502 Madison Avenue, which contains two beautiful Apartments. The design was interesting; an elegant mingling of old fashion mixed with a modern look. The Apartments are thirteen hundred square feet (1,300) with beautiful maple floors. The second floor Apartment has: two bedrooms, two full baths, stack top washer and dryer in the hallway, an office/den space, a beautiful living room, and outstanding kitchen. The third floor Apartments is a one bedroom with two full baths, same layout as the other apartment but the stack top washer and dryer is in the office/den closet. Not only did I love the interior of the building, I also loves the sense of security provided by the camera attached to the buzzer.

If you’re interested in either of the apartments I detailed here, you can visit the link at the bottom.

https://hotpads.com/502-madison-ave-covington-ky-41011-1k71wzg/2/pad
http://www.thebooneblock.com/home.html