Winthrop Manor (formerly John B. Cary Elementary School)

Architect: Charles M. Robinson
Date: 1912
Address: 2100 Idlewood Ave

While not the most celebrated grade school designed by Robinson in the city, the former John B. Cary Elementary School in Byrd Park nonetheless shares several similarities with Thomas Jefferson High School, Albert Hill School and Highland Park Public School, despite the differing aesthetic styles. It boasts a common rectangular shape, removed from the street edge and raised monumentally over flat land which allows clear views from every side. This emphasizes the strength and rationality of his buildings, allusions to the power of education taught within.

While his other Richmond public schools exhibit styles ranging from Art Deco to Mediterranean and Colonial Revival, the former Cary Elementary is an undeniable example of Gothic Revival. A weighty, locally quarried granite stone defends the building’s perimeter as a centrally located entrance splits apart the symmetrical wings. Two towers with crenelated parapets frame a Tudor arched opening, as expanses of glass and Gothic ornamentation accentuate the building’s key moment. The fortress-like appearance of the building is reinforced by a completely enclosed courtyard and slightly raised basement, a protective plan by any definition.

Robinson fully capitalized on the educational construction in Richmond from 1909 until the Great Depression, with this building being born in the middle of that time. Named after Colonel John B. Cary, who served as Superintendent to Richmond Public Schools for three years in the late 19th Century, the school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

A major renovation started in 2001 brought the structure back from a desolate condition of water damage, broken windows, caved-in roofs and squatters, and sold in 2010 for $2.1 million. Robinson’s rational plan certainly helped in the building’s potential for this adaptive reuse. In January 2012 it was reopened as an assisted living facility with 66 units, under the name Winthrop Manor. The site, while unfortunately bound by the Downtown Expressway, is well maintained and contains the Byrd Park Community Garden as well.

M.F.A.