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Robinson House (Richmond, Virginia)

Coordinates: 37°33′25.6″N 77°28′27.0006″W / 37.557111°N 77.474166833°W / 37.557111; -77.474166833
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Robinson House
Robinson House in 2016
Robinson House (Richmond, Virginia) is located in Virginia
Robinson House (Richmond, Virginia)
Robinson House (Richmond, Virginia) is located in the United States
Robinson House (Richmond, Virginia)
Location200 North Blvd., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates37°33′25.6″N 77°28′27.0006″W / 37.557111°N 77.474166833°W / 37.557111; -77.474166833
AreaLess than 1 acre
Builtc. 1845 (1845)-1859, 1884
ArchitectFleming, Robert I.
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No.13000993[1]
VLR No.127-0741
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 24, 2013
Designated VLROctober 1, 2013[2]

Robinson House, also known as The Grove, Main Building, and Fleming Hall, is a historic home located in Richmond, Virginia.

Description

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The house is located on the present-day campus of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) and on property that also bears the designation of the R. E. Lee Camp Confederate Memorial Park. It is a three-story, 7,900 square foot, brick Italianate style building.

History

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Originally built in the late 1820s by Richmond banker Anthony Robinson Jr. (1792-1861) as a modest one-story summer home, it was expanded in the late 1850s to a two-story mansion for year-round residency by the Robinson family. In late 1884 it was sold along with 36 acres by Robinson's son, Channing, to the newly formed R. E. Lee, Camp No. 1, Confederate Veterans organization to create a home for indigent and disabled veterans. The R. E. Lee Confederate Soldiers’ Home, funded primarily by the Commonwealth of Virginia after 1892, grew to a large complex of over 30 buildings, including residential cottages and a hospital. Robinson House—then called Fleming Hall for the architect/donor who contributed the third floor and pyramidal belvedere in 1886—served as the home's administration building, library, and war museum. When the Soldiers’ Home closed in 1941, the Commonwealth of Virginia transferred the care of the building to the state Department of General Services, and, in 1993, to VMFA which still owns and maintains it today.[3] After extensive renovations the refurbished house now features a Richmond regional tourism center and a history exhibition, open to the public daily, admission free.[4]

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Virginia Landmarks Register in 2013.[1]

See also

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Further reading

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  • Elizabeth L. O'Leary, Across Time: The History of the Grounds of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond: VMFA, 2019).

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/23/13 through 12/27/13. National Park Service. 2014-01-03.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Robinson House" (PDF). Elizabeth L. O’Leary, Marc Wagner, and Kelly Spradley-Kurowski. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. July 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "Robinson House Reopens at VMFA after Extensive Renovation and Expansion - VMFA Press Room". www.vmfa.museum. Archived from the original on 2021-04-10.
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