Governor's Mansion, Capitol Square, Richmond, Independent City, VA

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Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

16 drawings
1 b&w photos
1 data pages
1 photo caption pages
1 color transparencies

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TITLE:
Governor's Mansion, Capitol Square, Richmond, Independent City, VA

CALL NUMBER:
HABS VA.44-RICH,8-

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:
[See Call Number]

MEDIUM:
Measured Drawing(s): 16 (24 x 36 in.)
Photo(s): 1
Photo Caption Page(s): 1
Color Transparencies: 1

DATE:
Documentation compiled after 1933.

CREATOR:
Historic American Buildings Survey, creator

NOTE:
Survey number HABS VA-1242

Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (FN-348).

Building/structure dates: 1813 initial construction

Building/structure dates: 1906 subsequent work

Building/structure dates: 1958 subsequent work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 69000360

Significance: Completed in 1813, the Virginia Executive Mansion bears the distinction of being the oldest, continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States. Boston architect Alexander Parris designed the Federal style residence and construction was undertaken by Christopher Tompkins. Parris' square plan included a wide center hall with beautifully detailed arches, plaster frieze and two stairways, a wide principal stair and a narrower service stair. The Executive Mansion is an elegant Federal structure. Embellished with three porches, the front or west entry is the most ornate. Corinthian columns, paneled double doors, side lights and transom adorned with mullioned tracery are typical of the Federal style. The hip roof culminates in a balustraded "captain's walk" framed by a double pair of chimneys. Parris' plan was enlarged in 1906 with an elliptical dining room addition designed by Duncan Lee, a Richmond architect. Also, at the same time, a large ballroom was created by removing the rear center hall partitions and replacing them with stately columns. Another major change came in 1958 with the addition of a library and a breakfast room at the rear, east end. Originally occupying a prominent knoll intended to give the occupants a view of the James River, the mansion now sits on "Captiol Square," surrounded by tall buildings. Its serene beauty, however, has been retained by stately gardens, bordered by English boxwood, dogwood, holly and magnolia.

SUBJECTS:
VIRGINIA--Independent City--Richmond
mansions

COLLECTION:
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

REPOSITORY:
Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGID:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.va1456

CONTENTS:
Photograph caption(s):
West elevation
West elevation (duplicate of HABS VA-1242-1)

CONTROL #:
VA1456

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