Johnston's Inn, Georgetown Road, Paris, Kentucky
The 1782 Johnston's Inn, the first house built in Paris, Kentucky, brings to mind that old philosophical Ship of Theseus question -- if every board on the ship has been changed, is it still the same ship? While that answer is up for debate, what is clear is that the old inn is a pretty great place to celebrate Christmas. It first appears as a simple two story block house on "This Map of Kentucke" from 1784: { source } Now it appears as a gleaming white beacon for travelers. It still shows up pretty well in an aerial map: It's very grand today, but it probably looked a little more like that simple block drawing during its heyday as an inn, when it had dozens of covered wagons parked in front of it. Then as now, it was a gleaming white beacon. {1934 photo source } However, for many years it looked like the photo below, with the white paint stripped to reveal the original brick. It may have seemed more historically appropriate, but it's not the way the house spen
