Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 10/19/1982
NRHP Listing Date 04/07/1983
NRHP Reference Number 83003301
The Commonwealth Club Historic District area around West Franklin Street’s 400 block holds one of the city of Richmond’s best-preserved clusters of turn-of-the-20th-century, upper-class town houses. Its focal point is the Commonwealth Club, a gentlemen’s club designed in the 1890s by Carrere and Hastings of New York and one of Richmond’s earliest expressions of the Colonial Revival. Although the block was once part of an unbroken progression of fine residences extending from Capitol Square to Monument Avenue, it is now a detached enclave in the midst of high-rise development. The stylistic diversity of the period is well illustrated here with houses in the Italianate, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles, all executed with harmonious scale and materials. The Commonwealth Club remains an influential social institution for the city; most of the district’s houses have been rehabilitated for offices.
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 6, 2021
