James Lane Allen House (Scarlet Gate)

The childhood home of Kentucky author James Lane Allen, commonly referred to as Scarlet Gate, is located at 1020 Lane Allen Road in Lexington, Kentucky. Allen was born in Lexington in 1849, though he spent most of his adult life in New York. Allen is best known for his novels A Kentucky Cardinal and The Choir Invisible.

James Lane Allen was born December 21, 1849 to Richard and Helen Jane Allen. Allen lived in the Scarlet Gate house until he was 22 years old. He graduated from Transylvania University in 1872, and returned for his master's degree in 1877. Allen was a professor of modern languages, English Literature, and Latin at various schools in Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia before moving to New York in 1893, where he would spend the rest of his life. A Kentucky Cardinal was published in 1894, receiving critical and commercial success, followed by the highly acclaimed The Choir Invisible in 1897. Allen also wrote pieces for Harper's Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly. Although he never returned to Kentucky, his love for the state showed in his works, his novels belonging to the "local color" era of literature which provided both realism and romanticism of the regions in which the books were set. Allen died in New York in 1925.

The James Lane Allen House is owned by the James Lane Allen School and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

James Lane Allen, Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Accessed October 8th 2020. https://carnegiecenterlex.org/kentucky-writers-hall-of-fame/kentucky-writers-hall-of-fame-inductees-2016/james-lane-allen/.

Kentucky SP Allen, James House, National Archives Catalog. Accessed October 8th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123849761.