In 1795, Rowan began construction of Federal Hill, his family estate, on land that his father-in-law gave him as a wedding present. Due to limited financial resources, the time required to import building materials from the east, and the craftsmanship required to construct the large home, the mansion was not completed until 1818.Capps, p. 5 After a fire destroyed the log cabin in which the Rowans lived in 1812, they moved into the part of the mansion that was completed, and continued to live there while construction on the rest of the house was finished. Federal Hill was once believed to be the first brick house constructed in the state of Kentucky, but more modern sources give the designation to the William Whitley House, also known as Sportsman's Hill, which was completed in 1794 near Crab Orchard, Kentucky.Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Kentucky (1996). F. Kevin Simon, ed. The WPA Guide to Kentucky. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. p. 128. . Retrieved November 24, 2013.
