The Fenley Family
A Tradition of Entrepreneurship
1791 – The Fenley family lineage settle in Brandenburg, Ky. from Scottish and Irish dissent and establishes a 225 year history rooted in Kentucky.
1862 – David & Stephen Fenley’ s great-great-great grandparents, Alanson and Rachel Moreman moved from Brandenburg and purchased the 200 acre farm and expand it to be the largest farm in Louisville, Kentucky at 1,500 acres. Now known as Riverside, the Farnsley-Moreman Landing, a significant and important historical Louisville landmark located in southwest Louisville fronting the Ohio River. Today, David & Stephen have the honor of being 7th generation Louisvillians, and their children become the Eighth generation future.
1875 – Anna Moreman marries Jacob Perry Fenley and settle on a nearby farm and begin Fenley’ s Dairy at their Valley Station farm, a gift from Alanson and Rachel to them.
1920 – Guy Moreman Fenley, David & Stephen’s Great Grandfather, purchases 1,200 acres in Alabama for cotton operation.
1921 – Fenley's Model Dairy is established to serve exclusively the Veteran's Administration Hospital.
1924 – Fenley’s Dairy moves to Louisville becoming the first Dairy in Louisville, Kentucky at 6th and Hill street.
1925 – Fenley Dairy invents Egg Nog and only releases it for holidays as a means to speed up orders. The specialty item gains tradition.
1932 – Fenley's Ice Cream begins exclusive wholesale operations to Fort Knox. Fenley’s invents the drumstick and first to put milk in cartons from bottles.
1933 – R.B. Fenley, David & Stephen Fenley’s grandfather, founds Hill Street Realty at 33 years old in the middle of the depression.
1937 – In the aftermath of the 1937 Flood, the Fenley's set up a large meal station with donated food and dairy from the family farming business.
1948 – Fenley builds two new dairy and beef cattle farms on the Breckinridge County property and expands to 3000 head of cattle.
1952 – Fenley's Model Dairy is sold to Dean Milk, and the family uses the profit to purchase real estate in Breckinridge County, amassing 4,500 acres which would become the largest private working farm in Kentucky.
1954 – R.B. Fenley begins developing Dairy Farm land in Valley Station.
1975 – R.B. Fenley, David & Stephen Fenley’s grandfather, gifts 4,200 acres to the Commonwealth of Kentucky be used as a wildlife refuge.
1977 – Dick Fenley develops the residential neighborhood Woodstone
1994 – David Fenley forms his corporate enterprise, Fenley Real Estate.
1995 – David Fenley, at age 27, negotiates and signs Paul Semonin Company headquarters and begins the first speculative office building development.
2000 – David develops first full service hotel, Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Louisville.
2002 – David Fenley starts Fenley Suites opens with 67 offices.
2007 – Fenley builds its 21st property, the Hilton Garden Inn.
2008 – With GE Capital, Stephen & David Fenley close on the largest recapitalization of an 18-property corporate office portfolio in state history. David & Stephen Fenley become exclusively the largest privately held corporate investor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
2009 – Fenley exceeds $26M in annual net revenue.
2011 – With the 4th quarter ending, Fenley hits record occupancy of 93%.
2014 – David Fenley closes on largest portfolio CMBS loan in Kentucky post 2008 market crash with Citigroup.
"Get in the trenches and work hard. That's what I learned from my grandfathers R.B. Fenley and Joe Howard. Those are the principles that guide me in every facet of my life and business. From blueprint to building management, I'm always involved, ensuring every detail lives up to the highest Fenley standards."
-- David Fenley