Ginter House was built in 1892 as the residence of Lewis Ginter, a transplanted northern entrepreneur who made Richmond his home after the Civil War. Harvey L. Page and William Winthrop Kent designed the mansion with elements of Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles. Ginter’s niece, Grace Arents, inherited the property in 1897. From 1924 […]
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Chesterfield Apartments, built in 1903 as luxury residences – and Richmond’s first high-rise apartment building – is now occupied mostly by VCU students. The landmark building is part of the West Franklin Street Historic District. The building’s distinctive features are stone sills and flat-arch lintels on all windows, 10 oriel projections, an Ionic-columned portico, and
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Prestwould Condominiums is a limestone-trimmed brick high-rise designed by Alfred C. Bossom and erected in 1928. Now condominiums, the Jacobean Revival building has a crenelated tower, gables, and oriels. Prestwould overlooks the northeast edge of Monroe Park and is part of the Monroe Park Historic District. Name: Prestwould Condominiums Location: 612 West Franklin Street Year
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Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is said to be the world’s only cathedral financed by a single donation – that of industrialist Thomas Fortune Ryan and wife Ida Barry Ryan. Ryan family members are interred alongside Richmond bishops in the crypt below the cathedral’s altar. Together with the Bishop’s Residence, Priest’s House and supporting structures,
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Edison Apartments was built in 1913 as Virginia Railway and Power Company Office Building. It’s also been known as Virginia Electric & Power Building, VEPCO Building, and Railway and Power Building. The high-rise was converted to residential use in 2013/2014 as the 700 Centre Building and combined with the adjacent modern low-rise structure. Soon after,
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St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is a landmark place of worship, used by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee. The church used to have extensive memorials to the Confederacy, but most have since been removed. Architecture Richmond notes that the church provides “a virtual museum of late 19th century stained glass. Works are
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Egyptian Building is one of Richmond’s architectural treasures. Architecture Richmond says it best: “It’s facade is not merely an Egyptian entry sutured onto a neoclassic building but rather a complete Egyptian expression. Its obelisk gate, battered walls, papyrus columns, monumental windowless surfaces, and harsh contrast between shadow and highlight create a convincing Egyptian effect.” Name:
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Richmond’s Old City Hall is an architectural and, to a degree, governmental landmark. The winning design was scrapped because the $300,000 cost was deemed too expensive. The city then accepted a more modest proposal from a different architect, only to reverse course again to build Elijah Myers’ Gothic design. The actual cost wound up more
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Railroad Branch YMCA was built by the railroads, next to the Main Street Station, to give railroad workers a wholesome alternative to the flop houses and bordellos of what was then a red light district. It has been converted to a pub/restaurant (City Bar & Chop House) and apartments (Railroad-Y Lofts). Name: Railroad Branch YMCA
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First National Bank Building was Richmond’s first high-rise building, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Surprisingly (to me, at least), this 1913 landmark was built as a bank but commissioned by a railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company. The massive brick-and-stone building is an example how architects originally envisioned high-rise buildings – as
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