Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
See link(s) below to view additional documentation.
VLR Listing Date 03/20/1996
NRHP Listing Date 10/03/1996
NRHP Reference Number 96001075
These connected neighborhoods are an intimate interpretation of the garden suburb ideal developed in late 19th-century Britain. They were the creation of John Garland Pollard, lawyer, educator, and Virginia governor (1929-1933). Chandler Court was laid out on a tight scale, on level land, in 1924. Pollard Park was laid out more loosely around in a wooded ravine. The two developments incorporated such design amenities as curved roadways, brick pathways, minimum setbacks, and common open-space. The houses are generally small to medium-size middle-class dwellings typical of the 1920s to 1940s using various historical references. Some employ the more specific grammar of the Williamsburg colonial style. Architects whose work is represented here include Eimer Cappelmann, Clarence Huff, Jr., Charles M. Robinson, and Thomas T. Waterman. Prominent residents have included Governor Pollard, college librarian Earl Gregg Swemm, and historian Richard L. Morton.
Updated nomination documentation was submitted to provide additional information and justification for the addition of Landscape Architecture under Criterion C as an area of significance, and to extend the end date of the period of significance for the Chandler Court & Pollard Park Historic District from 1940 to 1968.
[NRHP Approved: 10/6/2020]
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: May 17, 2021
