Barret House (Richmond, Virginia)

Barret House
The Barret House, c. 1930s, Library of Congress
Location: 15 Sout 5th Street, Richmond, Virginia
Area: 9.9 acres (4.0 ha)
Built: 1844
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#: 72001517[1]
Added to NRHP: February 23, 1972

The William Barret House, located at 15 South 5th Street, Richmond, Virginia, is a mid-nineteenth century house, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972 (building listing #72001517)[1]

History

William Barret (29 November 1786 – 20 January 1871), a wealthy tobacconist in antebellum Richmond, built the Classical Revival styled house, in 1844, in Richmond’s up-and-coming Gamble’s Hill neighborhood. The house is situated on the southeast corner lot of 5th and Cary Streets. The residence and its dependencies survived the Richmond evacuation fire (April 2-3, 1865) at the end of the American Civil War, and remain largely intact, today.

Since it ceased use as a private residence, the Barret House has been used by a variety of organizations and for various purposes. The Navy League Club used it as a social club for sailors during the Second World War, and it later served as the offices for the Virginia Foundation for Architecture and the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects. Since 2009, it serves as the corporate headquarters of Thompson Davis & Company, an asset management firm.

References