Imperial Building, aka Richmond Free Press, is a neo-Classical building at 422 East Franklin Street. Name: Imperial Building, Richmond Free Press Location: 422 East Franklin Street Year Completed: 1923 Architect: Neff & Thompson Style: neo-Classical Society of Architectural Historians: Imperial Building Google Map All images copyright © Kenneth Grant / photos taken October 2019 with […]
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Black members of the multiracial First Baptist Church congregation purchased the existing (1802) church after white members built their own church on 12th Street, a block away. The black congregation added “African” to the church name. When the black congregation built a new church in 1876, it was patterned after the 12th Street church. Neither
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The 300 block of West Marshall Street is part of the Jackson Ward Historic District. Pictured is the north side of the street. According to landmark documents, “All of the houses on the north side of the block save three are antebellum, Greek Revival structures built between 1848-1855.” The photo foreground shows: 300-304 (north side),
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Deco at CNB Apartments is adaptive re-use of Central National Bank, a landmarked Art Deco skyscraper that was Richmond’s tallest building 1930 – 1971. The building changed hands several times: Central Fidelity Bank and Wachovia Bank, then (2007) a developer that planned to convert the offices to a hotel. In 2013 the building was converted
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Hotel Richmond was built in two phases. The original 1904 structure was an eight-story building fronting East Grace Street, designed by Harrison Albright. A 1911 expansion added two stories to the original building and an 11-story wing to the north, designed by John Kevan Peebles. A two-story lobby was constructed between the wings, fronting on
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Gallery 5, aka Steamer Company Number 5, is a quirky building across the street from another quirky building – Richmond Dairy Apartments. The triangular-shaped firehouse was built when fire engines were horse-drawn and pumps were steam-powered. The landmark remained in service as a firehouse (and police station) until 1968, when it was transformed into the
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Richmond Dairy Apartments is the adaptive re-use of a quirky dairy-cum-ice cream factory that closed its doors in 1970. The three giant milk bottles at corners of the eastern wing were conceived as a marketing tool, to promote the use of sterilized glass bottles for milk. Artists and musicians populated the building until 1990, when
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Hailed as a “significant new project” when built, Williams Mullen Center got faint praise from architecture critic Architecture Richmond: “The building’s exterior does not mar the cityscape, but it does fall somewhere short of beauty.” Maybe it’s a matter of taste. Personally, I like the way it plays visually with neighboring James Center and Gateway
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November Theatre is a century-old landmark in the Broad Street Commercial Historic District, originally known as the Empire Theatre. It was advanced for its time: air conditioned – by fans blowing over blocks of ice! A mere three years later, the Empire was converted to film and vaudeville under a new name, The Strand. A
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Masonic Temple is considered Virginia’s largest and finest example of Richardsonian Romanesque construction, according to landmark documents. Originally, the building housed a department store on the ground floor, ballrooms on the second and third floors, and Masonic Lodge meeting rooms on the fourth and fifth floors. Now known as the events venue Renaissance, the landmark
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