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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American Heritage Apartments is proof positive that you should always look up. At street level, my only interest was visiting the 7/11. From the State Capitol grounds, I found this view of the building, over the roof of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Bank Street. Marvelous cornice, terra cotta, balconies – not to mention
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The Virginia State Capitol core – the building minus the wings that were added in 1906 – was designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clerisseau in the image of a Roman Temple, Maison Caree. The neo-Classical temple form is said to have set a design precedent for public buildings in the United States. In keeping
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Broad Street Station, aka Union Station of Richmond, was on the verge of destruction in 1976 after Amtrak abandoned the transport hub. The State of Virginia planned to demolish the building and erect an office park on the site. Preservationists and the Science Museum of Virginia – which had been looking for a home for
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Continental Building seems best known for its next-door neighbors: the crinkled-aluminum Markel Building to the west and the Willow Lawn shopping center to the east. Yet, it’s a surprising (though modest) piece of architecture. The entire three-story building is raised on stilts a la Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye – providing shaded parking. The high arched
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