Grand and elegant, Spindletop Hall is a treasure that was acquired by the University of Kentucky (UK) in 1959. Originally built with oil money from the famous Texas Spindletop Oilfield, the extraordinary mansion has been a Lexington showplace since its construction was completed two years after it started in 1935. Miles Frank Yount stuck oil in the Spindletop Field in 1925 and garnered millions of dollars of oil income in the eight years before his death in 1933 at the age of fifty- three. After achieving financial success Yount and his wife Pansy established a well distinguished stable of American Saddlebred horses. After Yount’s death, Pansy used her wealth to reestablish her home in Kentucky, and built a thriving Saddlebred horse farm on 800 acres of land. From 1935 until 1955 Pansy lived at Spindletop Farm, building from the original 800 acres to 1,066 acres with seven miles of metal fence and eighteen barns. The estate included 3 kennels, 2 aviaries, 18 barns, a swimming pool, bath house, tennis court, and a greenhouse. In addition to the Spindletop Mansion, the farm had seventeen houses for servants and farm hands.
Spindletop Hall, built as a cost of one million dollars, was a very modern mansion in the era it was built, its circular staircase and thirty by sixty foot living room were the largest in Kentucky at the time of construction. The structure is a Georgian- Revival Style and was built with material and furnished with fixtures and features imported from Europe and Asia. Bronze doors open into the foyer of the Grand Entrance Hall of the house where a massive bronze chandelier hangs. Pansy’s music room showcases burled mahogany walls with ceramic trim as well as an imported marble mantel and crystal chandeliers. IN the center of the library is a fireplace mantel removed from Trentham Hall in Staffordshire, England and during her time at spindletop an Oriental rug purchased for $40,000 laid over the hardwood floor.
Pansy’s adopted daughter, Mildred, Lived with Pansy until her marriage to Edward Manion. Pansy moved from Spindletop Farm in 1955. She subsequently sold it to the University of Kentucky in 1959 for $850,000. Today the University of Kentucky utilizes the acreage for research and as a teaching farm. Pansy died in 1962, the year that Spindletop Hall became home to The Club at Spindletop. Since 1962, The Club at Spindletop Hall has existed as a private club open to UK faculty, alumni and members of the UK Alumni Association.
The magnificent estate is an ideal setting for the many amenities The Club at Spindletop Hall offers its members. The mansion consists of forty rooms containing over 45,000 square feet of beautiful space perfect for fine dining, meeting, entertaining, and fundraising. It is the ideal place to make wedding dreams come true with its matching spiral staircases, grand entrances and extraordinary veranda. The grandeur of the mansion is matched by exquisite grounds with immense trees, an immaculate lawn and spectacular flowers. Couple who marry at The Club at Spindletop Hall need little additional decoration because the backdrop of the mansion and grounds is decoration in of itself. The accommodating staff provides support and coordination to make weddings and reception spectacular and special touches like ice sculptures and the use of a house and carriage will truly make saying “I do” at Spindletop Hall a dday to remember.
The Club at Spindletop Hall provided quiet, beautiful meetings rooms that can accommodate up to 120 guests for retreats and business meetings. Up- to- date technology provides Wi-Fi throughout the mansion. The club offers reciprocal privileges to over eighty ACUC affiliated clubs throughout the country. It is an ideal location for other events like fundraisers and various types of entertaining such as parties, fashion shows, specialized dinner like wine dinners, and cooking classes. Roxie’s, the member dining room named after one of Pansy’s Champion Saddlebred horses Roxie Highlands, is a wonderful venue and features a fabulous menu that showcases an excellent culinary tea.
Locally grown products and an exquisite wine selection make dinning at the mansion an exceptional experience. Members dining on Roxie’s veranda while enjoying live entertainment and a Kentucky sunset revel in the lovely ambience outside in warmer months.
Members can swim in one of four pools: a family pool, a lane pool, a dive pool, and a baby pool. The club offers private and group swimming lessons as well. The poolside Tiki Bar and Grill is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Other outdoor facilities include ten tennis courts, chipping and putting greens, croquet court, basketball court, volleyball nets, and a playground. Private access to the Legacy Trail is also a benefit members can enjoy. A large picnic area for up to 400 people is available by reservation, and member events take place at the Club at Spindletop Hall throughout the year. Members and their families enjoy a variety of events such as an annual family pig roast, a Renaissance dinner, and an autumn pumpkin festival.
Today, the membership at The Club at Spindletop Hall numbers over 1,000 families and individuals. Affordable memberships are available to UK Alumni Association members, faculty and staff. Resident and non- resident memberships are available for families , individuals and seniors. More information can be obtained on the club’s website at www.spindletophall.org or by calling (859)255-2777 or visiting The Club at Spindletop Hall at 3414 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, Kentucky 40511.
Spindletop Hall and the surrounding thirty acres were listed on The National Register of Historic Places in the fall of 2012.
