Ron and Jane Harris love Old Louisville.
The open and graceful layout of Third Street in Old Louisville is a refreshing departure from most other developed spaces within the city: wide sidewalks give way to beautifully landscaped yards and three-story mansions stand guard silently over the neighborhood as they have for the last century.
It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon. The 107 year-old Victorian Châteauesque Eclectic castle belonging to Ron and Jane Harris beckons to me with a warm glow, and I am filled with anticipation to see what lies behind its wrought iron doorway.
I am welcomed inside by Ron, greeted by the couple’s sweetheart of a dog, and taken into a sitting room trimmed in old growth Honduras Mahogany- a protected species now commercially exhausted. Immediately, I’m taken with the detail and loveliness of the Harris home- the stained glass, its Victorian styling, and the careful display of artwork and collections amassed over the couple’s lifetime together.
Ron is the vice-chair of the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council; the director of The Victorian Ghost Walk, a yearly showcase held in October presenting the neighborhood’s haunted history; and the co-author (in partnership with David Dominé) of “Old Louisville”, a history of the neighborhood in historical images published as part of the Arcadia Publishing Images of America series.
In working with the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council, a collection of representatives from 13 Old Louisville neighborhood associations, Ron spearheaded The Windows Project, a renovation of the Information Center in Central Park. Once an open-air structure, the building was walled in with cinderblocks during the 1940s. Work to reopen the archways with windows is slated to commence in early December and will provide visitors to the Information Center with views of Central Park and the neighborhood.
What is it about Old Louisville that inspires its resident’s loyal enthusiasm?
Ron:
As a kid growing up in Fairdale, I would take the bus downtown each Friday to catch the most recent matinee. At the intersection of Fourth and Hill Streets, my face would be pressed against the window glass as I strained to get a better look at all of the beautiful homes; they looked like castles to me. My first dream in life was to own a Victorian mansion in Old Louisville. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
Jane:
We love living here. These houses are really showcases of Victorian architecture and amenities that were state of the art at the time of their construction; each one of them is different. The houses in Old Louisville were show homes; places where the builders could demonstrate the various techniques and styles of construction they were capable of producing. Sometimes it becomes easy to forget that I’m living inside this architectural marvel. I walk down the staircase and I can’t believe that it’s me who is living here.
It seems that the houses and their preservation are motivating factors for building community within the neighborhood. Is this a fair assumption?
Jane:
Yes. What’s special about each of these homes is that they contain the personalities of the original builder and those who they built it for, and layered over that are the personalities of the current occupants.
Ron:
The vast majority of people living in Louisville, especially those who live in the East End, have no idea that these homes exist. They have no idea of the glory down here. Promoting the wonder of this neighborhood has been an uphill battle, and we’re still fighting to make people aware of all that this neighborhood had to offer.
Jane:
Old Louisville is comprised of nearly 50 square blocks and 1,100-1,400 structures, most of which are over 100 years old. Our neighborhood is the largest intact residential Victorian neighborhood in the United States. But what I enjoy most about Old Louisville are the people: they’re all very different, they have different jobs, they’re from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and they have differing tastes, but we all love old homes—old Victorian homes.
Ron:
Old Louisville reminds me a lot of Greenwich Village back in the 1970s. It’s an eclectic collection of people. If we go out walking in the neighborhood, we find that we’re able to entertain ourselves endlessly with the abundance and beauty of architectural detail. To be surrounded by and to live within so much history is what we love.
The Old Louisville
Candy Company
and Happy Balls!
Following the now famous bourbon ball recipe of Ron’s Aunt Happy, Happy Balls! have become the official candy of Old Louisville. Since relocating to Louisville after retiring from successful acting careers in New York, and opening their business in 2005, Ron and Jane have made and sold close to one million Happy Balls!, their handmade Kentucky bourbon candy.
What inspired the two of you to get into the candy making business?
Jane:
We started making Happy Balls! as a way to fund the preservation work needed on our home. It’s now 107 years old.
Ron:
Every holiday season in New York, we would make bourbon balls for casting directors and agents using my Aunt Happy’s recipe. The candies helped to keep us in the forefront of their minds and that led to more work. Many of our friends in New York would ask us why we didn’t go into the candy making business full-time. So when we arrived here in Louisville, we thought, ‘Why not give it a try?’ When we started making Happy Balls! I kept thinking, ‘Am I crazy or are our bourbon balls better?’
Jane:
We invited friends to a blind tasting with every brand of bourbon balls we could find, and everyone preferred Aunt Happy’s recipe. That was all the encouragement we needed.
Ron:
We say it takes a minimum of 56 hours and two minutes to make a Happy Ball! We utilize three separate aging processes and the finest bourbon money can buy: Knob Creek 100 proof 9-year-old single barrel bourbon.
Jane:
People meditate over them. I have one friend who takes 15 minutes to enjoy just one.
May I try one?
Ron & Jane:
Of course!
It was delicious.
The complex texture and decadent mouth feel of these handmade bourbon balls combine with buttercream sweetness and the slight bitterness of bourbon-soaked pecans. These confections are a labor of love and serve as a metaphor for the couple’s love of each other, the complexity of Old Louisville, and the preservation of the historic Victorian castle they now call home.
Happy Balls! (the official candy of Old Louisville)
are available through Ron and Jane’s website:
GetHappyBalls.com
–Erynn Mcinnis
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