Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 11/16/1971
NRHP Listing Date 12/27/1972
NRHP Reference Number 72001519
This antebellum mansion is the sole survivor of the many large houses that once characterized Gamble’s Hill, a fashionable 19th-century Richmond neighborhood. It was built in 1847 for William O. George but was rented for three decades beginning in the 1850s to Richmond lawyer Henry Coalter Cabell, with whom it has since been identified. The portico uses an order invented for American buildings by the Brooklyn architect Minard Lafever and popularized throughout the country through his architectural design book The Beauties of Modern Architecture (1835). The capitals, composed of Grecian elements, have an Egyptian character here because the row of acanthus leaves, originally around the lower part of each capital, has been removed. The Henry Coalter Cabell House went on to serve as the headquarters of the Virginia Education Association, beginning in 1951.
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: August 11, 2021
