Built c.1930. Colonial Revival. The Wm. H. Newhouse Home. This residential area, originally known as Hedden’s Grove, thick with beautiful oak and birch trees, was once the site for many recreational and political activities in New Albany. The infamous Hedden family of New Albany owned the woods that were located in the original town of Silver Grove. The Hedden Park area saw numerous political rallies during and after the Civil War, along with annual African-American emancipation celebrations.

There was only a wagon trail to access this area and at the end of the trail was a flagpole where the rallies were staged. The Park area was also home to bands of Gypsies summering there. In later years, there was a small baseball diamond located in the Park area. The Court area contained a small pond with white lilies and numerous fish. By the time Hedden’s Grove was subdivided in the mid 1920s, by the Hedden Reality Co., the area was part of the city of New Albany.

William H. Newhouse purchased several lots in April and May of 1929 and had this home built a short time later. Mr. Newhouse was a dealer in the coal business of Newhouse Coal Co. in Louisville. He was a descendent of the prominent Newhouse family of New Albany. The house next door at 1609 was built for William and Catherine’s daughter Freda, and her husband Charles V. Nunemacher, another descendant of a prominent New Albany family. Both houses shared a common driveway. Mr. and Mrs. Nunemacher sold their New Albany home in November of 1936 and moved to Louisville. The Newhouses remained “on the Court” until William’s death on May 3, 1944 and Catherine sold the property on June 3, 1944.

By February of 1947, the Harry H. Zemon family purchased the house and remained there for eight years. Mr. Zemon was the proprietor of Ray’s Jewelers in downtown New Albany, later to become Zemon’s Jewelers.
Dr. Irvan Sonne, Jr. and his family were the next to own the home, beginning in August of 1955 and remaining there through the mid 1960s.
By the early 1970s, the house was home to the Rev. George Beury, family and remained in their possession through the mid to late 1980s. Rev. Beury was director of the Downtown Neighborhood Council, which later became Interfaith Community Council, Inc.