The Chateau Gallery
A Châteauesque contemporary art gallery and studio based in the heart of the Historic Old Louisville Preservation District
The Chateau Gallery is a contemporary hybrid art and studio loosely based in historic Old Louisville. The building's unique Châteauesque Victorian architecture lends credence to the gallery's name, known informally as “TCG.” TCG's narrative is as compelling as the space housed within its walls. The original building, built on the tailwind of the Southern Exhibition, is one of the first Gilded Age mansions built on Third Street's Millionaire's Row. Throughout its many lives, the monolithic building served as the estate of a tobacco baron, a funeral home, The Kentucky College of Barbering, an unlicensed child care center, a "drug dealer's palace," and a law office.
TCG is an avant-garde goliath of brick and mortar, wooden beams, and traditional white gallery walls — a constant construction project occupying a time and place between the antique and the contemporary. TCG’s mission is to use our platform to transcend borders and broadcast multi-faceted viewpoints through artistic, ideological, and philosophical exchange. Our current calls for entries, scheduled events, and submission forms are listed on our call for entries page. Check out our exhibitions page for past and current exhibitions, and contact us if you have any questions.
Below are some cliff notes of our history courtesy of local historian and author, David Domine, and the University of Louisville Photographic Archives.
Bockee Manor, 1888
"Another fashionable Louisville home was the Third Street residence of tobacco broker Charles Bockee, which was built at the onset of the boom that would populate the neighborhood with hundreds of new residences. A striking feature was the keyhole motif incorporated in the front entry and third floor balcony, details featured in a Harper's Weekly Supplement article from 1888 touting the city's growth."
Text: Courtesy of David Domine, Old Louisville, 2010. Illustration: "Louisville: A City of Beautiful Homes." Harper's Weekly, 1888.
D.J. Dougherty & Sons Funeral Home, 1935
The Chateau Gallery is a prominent feature on Old Louisville Ghost Tours — the building is unquestionably haunted. The Chateau’s basement served as a mortuary, with funeral services held on the first floor between the 1930s and early 1960s.
Photo: Courtesy of UofL Photographic Archives, Caufield & Shook Collection, Louisville, Kentucky, 1935.
