127-0020

Wickham-Valentine House

VLR Listing Date

11/05/1968

NRHP Listing Date

06/11/1969

NHL Listing Date

11/11/1971
1971-11-11

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).

Last Updated: February 8, 2024

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

For additional information Read

Nomination Form

1971 NHL Nomination

127-0434

Hickory Hill School

Richmond (Ind. City)

253-5182

Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Historic District and National Cemetery

(NHLs) Virginia's National Historic Landmarks

127-7673

High-Rise for the Elderly

Richmond (Ind. City)