The Winn Gunn House, Smith and Smith Funeral Home

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William A. Gunn, a noted civil engineer from Shelby County, built this Italianate residence in 1866 for his uncle Winn Gunn, a wealthy Virginia farmer and strong Union supporter who moved to Lexington after the Civil War.

Winn Gunn bought land behind his house and divided the 14-acres into narrow lots that he sold primarily to former slaves who were moving into town from the countryside to find work. The neighborhood was known as Gunntown.

The Gunn House passed out of the Gunn family's ownership. It was eventually bought in the 1920's by formerly enslaved Ellen Davis, who had a child with John T. Hughes, a wealthy white, thoroughbred horse breeder. Davis had been enslaved by the Hughes family.

Davis lived in the Gunn House until her death in 1927. Her son lived there until his death in 1935. Today it is the Smith & Smith Funeral Home. It served as a doctor’s office until 1954, when it was purchased by Smith and Smith and converted into a funeral home.