The Home of the late John C. Mayo, Multi-Millionaire who developed North East Kentucky. Located near in Paintsville, Ky.  In 1905, Mayo began develop plans to build him and his family a new home in Paintsville. He had originally planned to build around a twenty room home, but after visiting several other mansions in central Kentucky, he decided to build a much larger home. After hiring architect Herman Geisky and over one-hundred Italian stonemasons from Cincinnati, construction began in 1905.  Due to Paintsville's undeveloped state, construction of the mansion was not an easy task. Before the foundation could be built, the land had to drained and filled. The sandstone used in the construction was cut and shaped at Thomas Jefferson Mayo's (John Mayo's father) farm which was located across Paint Creek. The sandstone blocks were then transported across the valley from his father's farm to the construction site on an overhead tram, which was about 3/4 mile long. The stone columns were separated into three separate pieces and pulled up Paint Creek during the dry season by at least ten oxen.  At the start of the mansion's construction, Paintsville had not yet received electrical service. Due to this, the original plans called for the use of carbide gas to provide lighting. But toward the end of its construction, it was announced that the city would be receiving an electrical service. The mansion was then wired, allowing it to have electricity. Also, because Paintsville had not received a public water system, water was pumped from a well into a cistern, which provided the mansion with running water. Rain water was also captured from the roof and was channeled into the cistern. In December 1912, after a cost of $250,000, the three-story, forty-three room mansion was complete.  Shortly after Mayo's death in 1914, his wife, Alice, sold the estate to the Sandy Valley Seminary, which was renamed John C. C. Mayo College. After the college closed due to financial difficulties in 1936, the property and estate were given back to Alice. She then sold the property to E. J. Evans, who was a friend and employee of her husband. In 1945, Evans sold the mansion and property to Most Reverend William T. Mulloy, who was the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky at the time. In October of the same year the Sisters of Divine Providence from Melbourne, Kentucky established Our Lady of the Mountains School, which still occupies the building today.

The property is now owned by the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, KY and is operated and maintained by St Michael Parish in Paintsville, KY. On the property is also the volunteer convent where volunteer groups can be housed. The structure, while being of historical significance, creates a significant maintenance and funding issue for small Catholic parish of St Michael. If you would like to volunteer or donate to support Our Lady of Mountains School please do so.