The Commonwealth Club

Last updated

Commonwealth Club
CommonwealthClubRichmond.jpg
Location319-415 and 400-500 W. Franklin St., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates 37°32′46″N77°26′52″W / 37.54611°N 77.44778°W / 37.54611; -77.44778
Architectural style Romanesque Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival
Part of Commonwealth Club Historic District (ID83003301)
Added to NRHPApril 7, 1983 [1]

The Commonwealth Club, is a private gentlemen's club in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Its present clubhouse was completed in 1891. The defining structure of the Commonwealth Club Historic District, it is located at 401 West Franklin Street. The Commonwealth Club is considered to be one of the finest pieces of architecture in Richmond and was a physical symbol of Richmond's New South movement. The club hosts the annual Richmond German Christmas Dance, the oldest debutante ball in Virginia.

Contents

Architecture

After an unsuccessful attempt to acquire plans from local firms, the Board of the Commonwealth Club looked outside of Richmond to develop a style that reflected the momentum of a more national architectural movement. The site proposed for the building, formerly the Palmer House, was located high above the street level. While the board desired a style broadly fashionable, they also desired the building to reflect Richmond as a southern city. The New York City based firm of Carrère and Hastings was chosen from a group of four firms.

The Commonwealth Club is a unique structure among Richmond buildings. Characterized by its deep red brick, brownstone trim and terra cotta cartouches, the building is a combination of Colonial revival and Richardsonian Romanesque styles. The Colonial revival tradition is reflected to promote a heritage for the future and the Richardsonian style reflected the ability of Richmonders to afford an architectural style fashionable on a national level. It is classified by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources as Italian Renaissance Revival. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian architecture</span> Series of architectural revival styles

Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction. However, many elements of what is typically termed "Victorian" architecture did not become popular until later in Victoria's reign, roughly from 1850 and later. The styles often included interpretations and eclectic revivals of historic styles (see Historicism). The name represents the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for a reigning monarch. Within this naming and classification scheme, it followed Georgian architecture and later Regency architecture and was succeeded by Edwardian architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fan District</span> United States historic place

The Fan is a district of Richmond, Virginia, so named because of the "fan" shape of the array of streets that extend west from Belvidere Street, on the eastern edge of Monroe Park, westward to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. However, the streets rapidly resemble a grid after they go through what is now Virginia Commonwealth University. The Fan is one of the easterly points of the city's West End section, and is bordered to the north by Broad Street and to the south by VA 195, although the Fan District Association considers the southern border to be the properties abutting the south side of Main Street. The western side is sometimes called the Upper Fan and the eastern side the Lower Fan, though confusingly the Uptown district is located near VCU in the Lower Fan. Many cafes and locally owned restaurants are located here, as well as historic Monument Avenue, a boulevard formerly featuring statuary of the Civil War's Confederate president and generals. The only current statue is a more modern one of tennis icon Arthur Ashe. Development of the Fan district was strongly influenced by the City Beautiful movement of the late 19th century.

The Greater Richmond, Virginia area has many neighborhoods and districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Building</span> United States historic place

The Egyptian Building is a historic college building in Richmond, Virginia, completed in 1845. It was the first permanent home of the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College and now is a part of Virginia Commonwealth University. It is considered by architectural scholars to be one of the finest surviving Egyptian Revival-style buildings in the nation. The Egyptian Building was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register on November 5, 1968, the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1969, and finally designated as a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Ward</span> United States historic place

Jackson Ward, previously known as Central Wards, is a historically African-American district in Richmond, Virginia, with a long tradition of African-American businesses. It is located less than a mile from the Virginia State Capitol, sitting to the west of Court End and north of Broad Street. It was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 1978. "Jackson Ward" was originally the name of the area's political district within the city, or ward, from 1871 to 1905, yet has remained in use long after losing its original meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branch House</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Branch House in Richmond, Virginia, was designed in 1916 by the firm of John Russell Pope as a private residence of financier John Kerr Branch (1865–1930) and his wife Beulah Gould Branch (1860–1952).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model Tobacco Factory</span> United States historic place

The Model Tobacco Factory is a historic industrial complex located in Richmond, Virginia. It was built beginning in 1938, and consists of ten contributing structures, including a prominent six-story rectangular factory building designed in the Art Deco style. The building was designed by the Chicago architecture firm of Schmidt, Garden and Erikson and is known for its 9' tall Moderne MODEL TOBACCO letters which dominate the north end of the building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District</span> Historic district in Minnesota, United States

The Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District is a historic district in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, centered on Washburn-Fair Oaks Park. The city of Minneapolis designated a district bordered by Franklin Avenue, Fourth Avenue South, 26th Street East, and First Avenue South. A smaller district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, includes seven mansions along and near 22nd Street East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Street District</span> United States historic place

The Central Street District is a historic district encompassing the traditional heart of Andover, Massachusetts prior to the development in the later 19th century of the current town center. It consists mainly of residential and religious properties along Central Street, from Phillips Street in the south to Essex Street in the north. All of the listed properties have frontage on Central Street, even if their addresses are on one of the adjacent streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Street District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Federal Street District is a residential and civic historic district in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. It is an expansion of an earlier listing of the Essex County Court Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In addition to the former county court buildings included in the earlier listing, the district expansion in 1983 encompasses the entire block of Federal Street between Washington and North Streets. It includes buildings from 32 to 65 Federal Street, as well as the Tabernacle Church at 50 Washington Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of St. Louis</span>

The architecture of St. Louis exhibits a variety of commercial, residential, and monumental architecture. St. Louis, Missouri is known for the Gateway Arch, the tallest monument constructed in the United States. Architectural influences reflected in the area include French Colonial, German, early American, European influenced, French Second Empire, Victorian, and modern architectural styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochelle Park–Rochelle Heights Historic District</span> Historic district in New York, United States

The Rochelle Park–Rochelle Heights Historic District is a historic residential district located in the city of New Rochelle in Westchester, New York. The district is historically and architecturally significant as an intact and distinctive example of residential park development at the turn of the Twentieth Century. It includes the historic Rochelle Park development, and the later Rochelle Heights subdivision. Within the district are 555 contributing properties, including 513 buildings, 38 structures, and 4 sites. Only 24 buildings and 1 site separately identified within its area are non-contributing. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on July 6, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemont Historic District (Alexandria, Virginia)</span> Historic district in Virginia, United States

The Rosemont Historic District is a historic district in Alexandria, in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery Street Historic District</span> Historic district in West Virginia, United States

Avery Street Historic District, is a national historic district located at Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. It is to the east of the Julia-Ann Square Historic District and south of the Parkersburg High School-Washington Avenue Historic District. Primarily residential, it encompasses 109 acres and includes churches, a school, and a small commercial area. Built as Parkersburg's first "suburb" in the late-19th and early-20th century in popular architectural style such as Colonial Revival and Queen Anne, the district exhibits 12 distinctive types of Historic architecture. There are 358 contributing buildings, 59 of which are considered to be pivotal. U.S. Senator Johnson N. Camden (1826-1908) owned most of the land now included in the district. Located in the district are the separately listed Parkersburg Women's Club and the First Presbyterian Church/Calvary Temple Evangelical Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Tower (Washington, D.C.)</span> United States historic place

The Park Tower is an historic structure located in the Meridian Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1988 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East High Street Historic District (Springfield, Ohio)</span> Historic district in Ohio, United States

The East High Street Historic District is a cluster of mansions on the eastern side of Springfield, Ohio, United States. Located along one of Springfield's most important thoroughfares and once home to some of its most prominent residents, the cluster was named a historic district in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Street Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Virginia, United States

The Grace Street Commercial Historic District is a national historic district located in Richmond, Virginia. The district encompasses 93 contributing buildings located in downtown Richmond. The buildings reflect the core of the city's early 20th-century retail development and the remnants of a 19th-century residential neighborhood. The buildings are in a variety of popular 19th-century and early 20th-century architectural styles, including Classical Revival, Mission Revival, International Style, and Colonial Revival. Notable buildings include the Administration and Equipment Building for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company (1929), Thalhimer's Department Store, Atlantic Life Building (1950-1959), Miller & Rhoads Department Store, Berry-Burk Building, former W. W. Foster Studios (1927), Bank of Virginia (1949), Investment Realty Company building (1930), W.T. Grant Store (1939), Hotel John Marshall (1927), Franklin Federal Savings and Loan building (1954), and the Tompkins House (1820). Located in the district and separately listed are the Loew's Theatre, Centenary United Methodist Church, Joseph P. Winston House, Central National Bank, and National Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longview Gardens Historic District</span> Historic house in North Carolina, United States

Longview Gardens Historic District is a historic post-World War II neighborhood and national historic district located 1+12 miles east of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. The district encompasses 189 contributing buildings and five contributing sites. Notable contributing resources include the Raleigh Country Club golf course designed by Donald Ross, Longview Baptist Church and Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church (1946), both striking examples of Modernist architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redstone (Burlington, Vermont)</span> United States historic place

Redstone is a historic former estate on South Prospect Street in Burlington, Vermont. It was developed in 1889, and includes some of Burlington's finest examples of Richardsonian Romanesque, Shingle, and Colonial Revival architecture. Its surviving elements are Redstone Green and some of its surrounding buildings on the campus of the University of Vermont, which acquired the property in 1921, and are part of the university's Redstone Campus. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as the Redstone Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral Historic District (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)</span> Historic district in South Dakota, United States

Cathedral Historic District, originally the Sioux Falls Historic District, is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Named for its centerpiece and key contributing property, the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, the district covers the neighbourhood historically known as Nob Hill, where multiple prominent pioneers, politicians, and businessmen settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These homes primarily reflect Queen Anne and Mediterranean Revival architectural styles. In 1974, the neighborhood was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); at the time of this listing, there were 223 buildings, not all contributing, within the district's boundaries. The district was enlarged in 2023.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. DHR Id#: 127-0373-0002