The Monin House, somewhat isolated in the backwoods of Hardin County, has stood the test of time for 227 years. That isolation is about to change now that the Ford Motor Company has gobbled up 1,500 acres not far from Monin Road on Interstate 65 near Glendale.
It is the oldest house in Hardin County, built in 1795 and located in a section of the county with little commercial development. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Thanks to Leon Howlett and his brother, Paul, the Monin House isn’t going away anytime soon. Several years ago, they purchased the property and began a restoration project to preserve not just the outward appearance of the structure but also the interior. Their efforts have been slow but rewarding in restoring the building, originally a two-story log home much larger than most constructed during that period.
“[It’s] a labor of love,” Leon Howlett said. “Almost every weekend for eight years, we have worked on the restoration. The only exception was during harvest time on our other property. We are finally reaching the end.”
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The house’s history reveals an intriguing story, which begins with Adam Monin, who emigrated from Switzerland, where he was born in 1727. He and his wife, Elizabeth, raised a family in their new house. As the years went by, the home was passed down to offspring.
Adam was one of around 200 pioneers to make their way into Kentucky with a land grant from the Revolutionary War that took him first to Paris. Bourbon County was one of the first nine Kentucky counties, and the land grants were a big part of the pensions that soldiers received.
It wasn’t long before Adam traded his Paris parcel for land in Hardin County, shortly after the county was formally established in 1793. Two years later, he began construction on his home near what became the community of Nolin, 10 miles from Elizabethtown.
To put the age of the house and its owner in perspective, these were the days of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. George Washington was beginning his second term as president of the United States, a country still in its infancy.
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The house didn’t leave the Monin family for decades. During the Civil War, Union Gen. L.H. Rosseau made the large home his headquarters, while more than 10,000 of his soldiers camped nearby. Later, several of his manuals and a saddle rack were found there and are on display at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown.
Harold and Frances Monin were the last of the descendants to live in the house. When Harold died, his wife stayed on until 1996, when she moved to a nearby assisted living facility.
Louise Monin Diddle grew up in the historic home. She was the wife of Ed Diddle, who coached men’s basketball at Western Kentucky University from 1922-64. The Diddles had two children, Mary Jo Phillips and Eddie Diddle Jr. Eddie Jr. played basketball as a WKU Hilltopper from 1949-51, then went on to coach basketball at Middle Tennessee State University.
Louise attended WKU, where she played basketball. That’s where she met the future Hall of Fame coach and later married him.
“These were the best of times,” Mary Jo said of their childhood years. “Eddie and I would board the train [to Nolin] in Bowling Green on Friday and return Sunday night.
“I was 4, and Eddie was 8. We’d get off the train, walk uphill through some woods, and cross a swinging bridge. I had a playhouse, climbed trees, caught fish out of the creek, collected shells, and picked blackberries. We had cousins who would come from Key West on the train to stay all summer.”
Nolin was a thriving community with a mill, a post office and a bank. Most importantly, the community had a railroad stop that ensured it was on the map.
“Mother and I, years ago, went to Switzerland with my husband, Jim, to see where my family originally had come from,” Mary Jo said. “He [Adam Monin] was from the town of Tramelon in the French-speaking area of the country.”
Adam Monin walked all the way to Detroit and back to Kentucky to fight in a Native American uprising, according to Mary Jo. That’s history. He died in 1831 at age 104 and is buried in the Monin family farm cemetery.
“I still have the muzzle-loading rifle he used,” Mary Jo said.
Mary Jo Phillips now lives in Nashville and is probably the only person alive who has spent time in the Monin House. “My grandfather graduated from UK before it was UK,” she said. “My grandmother graduated from Centre College and worked in Chicago for a time. I had twin uncles who ran Monin Bros. Garage in Glendale.”
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“If we could find the right buyer, we’d sell it,” Howlett said of the house. “At one time, making a small distillery here was talked about.”
The historic significance of the Monin House and surrounding acres would lend itself to some creative bourbon brands with some interesting history.
“I don’t know if Adam Monin ever made whiskey on the place or not,” Howlett said, “but it would be a great place for a distillery, small warehouse and tasting room. There’s so much history.”
Surveyors are at work preparing for secondary roads to be widened in the area near the house. With the efforts the Howlett brothers have put into this Hardin County relic, they are not about to let it disappear under their watch.