Baskervill & Son, and Samuel Hannaford & Sons, and Commonwealth Architects adaptive reuse architect 1957, adaptive reuse 2008 1350 Westwood Avenue Ginter Place is a handsome, seven story, 69-unit, mid-century modern condominium tower that rises above the lush tree canopy of Laburnum Park, an early 20th century suburb of mostly upscale Colonial Revival and Art …
Hallett & Pratt, architect 1920 1200 Wilmington Ave. The somber-looking, skintled brick, Gothic Revival, and sparsely-landscaped complex that served Ginter Park Baptist Church for almost a century was built of elements that date to long before 1920. Herein lies an intriguing saga of architectural recycling that begins downtown with a Presbyterian church on East …
Parish & Schroeder 1908 1300 Westwood Avenue With an imposing Corinthian temple front of six colossal columns, excellent proportions, and exquisite red brick work, three-story “Laburnum” may be the most splendid country house in greater Richmond. Its setting, however, is a mish-mash of elements that include a former mid-century modern hospital (and later adjacent medical …
3201 Brook Road 1800-1875 Architect/contractor unknown Note: this building was demolished by Union Presbyterian Seminary in January 2021, more than a year after the article below was written. A picturesque Italianate villa named “Westwood” (and sometimes called the McGuire Cottage) is nestled among large shade trees in the middle of the 3200 block of Broad …
Hill Colvin Linthicum, Sr., (sanctuary and parish hall) and Lee & Lee (addition to parish hall) 1912 (sanctuary and parish house), 1922 (addition to parish house) and 1961 (Administration Building) 3602 Hawthorne Avenue St. Thomas Episcopal Church, a charming Gothic Revival complex at 3600 Hawthorne Avenue, traces its beginnings to 1907 when Ginter Park was a …
4026 MacArthur Avenue Adolph O. Budina 1937 MacArthur Avenue, in Northside’s Bellevue neighborhood, has become something of a destination for eating out with a number of intimate fine dining options joining a popular comfort food destination, Dot’s Back Inn, and the Stir Crazy coffee house. But the landmark on the street, albeit disfigured, is the …
Architect: Duhring Okie and Ziegler Dates: 1901 Address: 3421 Hawthorne Avenue The story of the Lewis Ginter Recreation Association, or LGRA, is linked inextricably to the development of the Ginter Park neighborhood. Wealthy Richmond tobacco baron Lewis Ginter built an early streetcar suburb north of the city beginning in the late 1800s. Today’s LGRA was …
Architect: Charles M. Robinson Date: 1915 Address: 201 East Brookland Park Boulevard Richmond Community is a public high school for gifted students in Richmond’s North Side. Their building was originally home to Chandler Middle School. In 1960, Chandler became the first public school in Richmond to racially integrate. Richmond Community boasts another first; founded in …
Architect: Samuel J. Collins, 1949 with addition by Winks-Snowa, 1996 Address: 909 Rennie Avenue Dates: 1949, 1996 Ginter Park is a dowager of Richmond neighborhoods with such distinguishing characteristics as magnificent shade trees, an eclectic collection of early 20th century domestic architecture and streets with grassy median strips that manage to be simultaneously rural and …
Architect: Henri Van de Velde Dates: 1939-1940 Address: 1500 N. Lombardy Street Virginia Union University was founded in 1865 and had a campus dominated by grey granite Richardsonian Romanesque buildings. Nestled in this classic collegiate environment is a surprising architectural exception to the rule; the Belgian Building. Designed for the 1939 New York World’s Fair …