TOPS IN EQUINE
Fillies in the Workplace: Meg Jewett
Horse Breeder, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist by Kathie Stanps Photo by Keni Parks
A love of horses, particularly the Standard-
bred, has been in Meg Jewett’s family tree for 122 years. Her great-grandfather, Lamon Vanderburg Harkness, was born in Ohio, and after living in New York and California, he came to Lexington, Ky., in 1892. He bought 400 acres of land for his carriage horses on a horse farm named Walnut Hall, and soon got into racing and breeding Standardbred horses. He continued to buy land and wound up with 5,000 acres in Fayette County before he died in 1915. The Kentucky Horse Park sits on 1,200 of those acres, while Jewett owns the original 400 acres her greatgrandfather purchased. “When he died, my grandmother continued; when she died, my mother continued; when she died, I continued,” Jewett said. As the owner of Walnut Hall she is still raising, breeding and racing Standardbred horses. “Our population is about 100 horses,” she said. “It depends on the time of year.” There are more, of course, when foals and yearlings are on the farm. Jewett’s husband, Alan Leavitt, is president and general manager of the farm. “We met in the horse business,” she said.
father) was Stephen V. Harkness, who co-founded Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in 1870. Fast-forward to the new millennium. In 2000 Jewett started a high-end gift enterprise in downtown Lexington. She named it L.V. Harkness, in honor of her great-grandfather. “I thought it was something fun to do,” she said. “It was going to be small. And it grew and grew and grew.” In the beginning, she and her team topped the tables of the Greentree Tearoom with porcelain and silver pieces. The tearoom, which also opened in 2000, is known for its prix fixe luncheon menu that changes each month. “It’s fun to go over for tea,” Jewett said. The Greentree Tearoom is located on a property known as Greentree Close on West Short Street. When another building in the Close became available, Jewett and her staff of four moved into a former machine shop to open the retail store. L.V. Harkness now has 20 employees.
Meg Jewett
By the way, Jewett’s great-great-grandfather (and L.V. Harkness’
“We just went in, like doing a set on a play,” Jewett said. “We put walls up and turned it into our store.”
Upstairs there is a board room that becomes a space for parties from time to time. It opens onto a rooftop garden, designed by Jon Carloftis.
DECEMBER 2013 | TOPSINLEX.COM
145