By Emily Hagedorn
Enquirer contributor

BURLINGTON - Puffs of wilting Queen Anne's lace fade against the dingy, whitewashed wood of the Dinsmore Homestead's sagging front porch.

With funds, though, the homestead's foundation hopes to restore the porch - as well as some other key areas of the plantation - to its original splendor.

"We have a responsibility to keep this up," said Marty McDonald, the executive director of the foundation. "It's a national treasure."

The homestead, settled in 1842 by James Dinsmore, sits almost hidden off Burlington Pike in rural Boone County.

The large white home and cabins contain most of the family's antebellum possessions - clothes, kitchenware, home furnishings, letters and records.

The family sold the home and 30 acres to the foundation in 1988, and now the foundation is launching a campaign to refurbish the plantation.

"It is equal in my book to Mount Vernon and Monticello," said Betsy Conrad, a board member in the foundation and head of planning and development. "We can't even use the front door to go in and out of. The list goes on and on."

Besides the front porch, the main building's moss-covered roof leaks, the kitchen outbuilding's floor is unsafe and the wine outbuilding has a hole in the roof you can look through, McDonald said.

Overall, the repairs to the main home and 10 outbuildings will cost $201,450, she said.

So far, the foundation has collected $10,000 and recently received $35,000 from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which it must match by next March, she said.

McDonald hopes to have the matching money by fall.

"You can't have an 1842 building without putting money into it," McDonald said.

To raise the funds, the foundation plans to go to area city council and county fiscal court meetings to spark interest in the homestead, Conrad said.

They are urging people to buy memberships, which range from $10 to $500. Perks include a reduced admission rate, free tours, quarterly newsletters and special members-only events.

The foundation is also hosting a gala.

For more information, call the foundation at (859) 586-6117.