A Rich History

The discovery of a nearby earth mound and multiple ancient artifacts, including arrowheads and stone tools, suggest that American Natives lived and hunted in the area surrounding the Stonehouse Settlement Winery long before European settlers arrived.

During the 1800’s immigrants from Germany and Austria travelled on longboats down the Ohio River to settle Camp Springs A.K.A. Indian Springs just a few miles from Cincinnati. The European immigrants brought grape growing and wine making skills to the area. The immigrants constructed buildings with stone masonry using unusual architectural features that give the area a unique style giving rise to a Stonehouse Settlement. Many of the original structures still stand and are occupied today. By the mid 1800’s Cincinnati, including parts of Northern Kentucky, was known as the wine capital of the country for a short period after the Civil War. The wine industry was later decimated by a blight that pass through the local vineyards and the Prohibition Act of 1920 . 

The wine industry saw the start of a renaissance in the late 1900’s as evidenced by five local wineries in Campbell County with numerous others in nearby communities. Based on the 2023 Wine Trail guide there are 70 + wineries in the state of Kentucky.

The Schoolhouse

In 1913, The State of Kentucky mandated that all school buildings must have at least two classrooms, so the Campbell County School Board acquired 1 ½ acres of land and built a two-room schoolhouse. Apparently, the brick for the building came from a brick factory in Mentor Kentucky located several miles away, as all the bricks have the word “Mentor” stamped in them.

The one-room, 12-Mile School, located on an island in the nearby 12-Mile Creek, and the one-room school in the nearby Oakland Church were both closed and consolidated into the new Oakland 12-Mile School, which opened in 1913 and ran through 1938, when operations were moved to Alexandria, KY.

During the 25 years of operations many of the local families with names such as Nelson, Schultz, Taylor, Painter, Mains, Tarvin, Benedict, Schweitzer and Scott attended the school.

During a lengthy conversation with the late Chester Nelson he described a normal school day. He got up early and walked one mile to the school to light the two potbelly stoves (one in each classroom). After the fires were lit he would return home to perform his farm chores. Once his farm chores were complete he would walk back to school to attend as a student. At the end of the school day he walked home again.

The Scotts

Walter, Jean & Patsy Scott attended the school and based on the school records two of the three were good students. A 3^rd generation of Scotts – Steve & Sandy Compston Scott purchased the old school building on the original 1 ½ acres in 2015. Steve and Sandy later purchased an additional 10.5 acres surrounding the building in 2016 and started clearing trees and vegetation to plant a vineyard.

In 2017, Steve and Sandy began a comprehensive rehab project on the old schoolhouse. Soon after, they discovered a bobcat and her litter were living in the crawl space beneath the schoolhouse floor. The family of bobcats have a den nearby and are still spotted on occasion.

The Vineyard

Steve and Sandy selected a red grape variety based on guidance from the University of Kentucky Department of Agriculture known as Noiret. This grape is a grafted stock developed by Cornell University which is known to be resistant to late spring frost. The Noiret was planted in 2018, however, Mother Nature did not want to cooperate causing this block of grapes to get off to a rough start. Two years later just as the Covid pandemic appeared Steve and Sandy, with a little help from family and friends planted a white grape known as Vidal Blanc. The vineyard surrounding the Stonehouse Settlement Winery is located in the Ohio River Valley AVA. This American Viticultural Area is the second largest wine appellation of origin in the United States and includes parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia.

Progress photos

The construction photos below are the progression of Stonehouse Settlement Winery, which opened February 1st 2025 as an addition and remodel to the original Oakland 12 mile schoolhouse.

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High Tea Party: May 9th 2026

2nd Annual Stonehouse Settlement Derby Day Party: May 2nd 2026