7/23/22; Cynthiana, KY; Susan Wright sits in the historic Coleman-Desha Plantation house on Oddville Ave near Cynthiana, KY on July 23, 2022. Wright’s parents bought the house in an auction in October 1987. The home was built in 1812 by Col. James Coleman who was a commader of a large company in the war of 1812. In 1828 Governor Joseph Desha bought the property for his son, Lucius. The Desha family named the property “The Oaks.” One of the Desha daughters, Frances, inherited the home from her father and she married H.C. Duffy. The home stayed in the hands of the five Duffy daughters until it was put up into auction in 1987. The five daughters were spinsters who were told by their father to never marry. Susan’s parents, Wes and Betty Newkirk, worked to restore the house after they purchased it, adding on to it, restoring stencil work on the second floor rooms. Now Susan Wright is planning to sell the home to a carefully selected family that will tend to the home to the delicacy that her father did. Wright mentioned how the house costs $40,000 a year in general upkeep, a cost that she and her husban can no longer keep up. Susan lives with her husband in San Diego, CA and travels to see the house every once in a while and sometimes hosts family or friend gatherings when she’s in town or during holidays. Susan biggest want is to have people gathering and using the house which her and her husband can’t do anymore. Photograph by Jesse Barber