Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 04/15/1975
NRHP Listing Date 05/21/1975
NRHP Reference Number 75002115
Although the form developed earlier, shopping arcades became de rigueur for cities both in Europe and the United States in the late 19th century. Nearly always highly ornamented and employing large amounts of glass, these arcades provided handsome settings for fashionable shops. Designed by the Norfolk firm of Neff and Thompson and opened in 1908, the Monticello Arcade is one of only two such arcades remaining in the state. Its developer was Percy S. Stephenson. Providing grand entrances are heroic colonnades with Beaux Arts ornamentation of polychromed terra cotta. The lofty interior has two tiers of shops above the ground floor, all flooded in daylight through a glass ceiling. Much of the arcade’s original character was hidden for many years behind tawdry later shopfronts, but a 1980s restoration returned the building’s former suave elegance. The Monticello Arcade is now also contributing to the Downtown Norfolk Historic District.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: October 4, 2021
