Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
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VLR Listing Date 11/05/1968
NRHP Listing Date 06/11/1969
NHL Listing Date 11/11/1971
NRHP Reference Number 69000329
This nationally significant work of Federal architecture was designed by Alexander Parris with advice from Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Parris, a native of Portland, Maine, moved to Richmond ca. 1811 where he designed several houses, including this house on East Clay Street for Richmond lawyer John Wickham. Completed in 1812, Wickham’s house has an elegantly restrained neoclassical exterior. Inside is a resplendent suite of reception rooms arranged around a circular hall containing a graceful curved stair. Each room boasts remarkable long-hidden painted wall decorations carefully uncovered and conserved in a comprehensive restoration begun in the 1980s. Mann Valentine II purchased the house in 1882 and filled it with his collection of art, Indian artifacts, and historic objects. In 1892, he left the property and collections to serve as a museum of Richmond history and culture known today as the Valentine Museum and since expanded into adjacent historic buildings (such as the Decatur O. Davis House).
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 13, 2021
