Branch House - The largest mansion on Monument Avenue - Richmond, VA

Branch House - The largest mansion on Monument Avenue - Richmond, VA

 

Branch House, one of Richmond's most magnificent mansions and the most recognized in the area, located at 2501 Monument Avenue was built for financier John Kerr Branch in 1919. Inspired by Compton Wynyates, a country house in the English countryside of Warwickshire, this opulent structure symbolized Branch's social and professional position in the city. Branch was the president of Merchants National Bank as well as a partner with the investment firm, Thomas Branch and Company.

Located at the corner of Monument Avenue and Davis Avenue, it is situated at a prime vantage point in front of the Jefferson Davis Monument, one of the city's most visited monuments.

The 27,000 square foot, Tudor-styled home, designed by famed architect John Russell Pope, features eleven levels. Pope's other renowned work includes Richmond's Broad Street Station (now the Science Museum of Virginia), as well as the Jefferson Memorial and National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His design replicates such fine details of the country house such as the weathered brick and sandstone exterior. The house is still surrounded by its original privacy wall, built of brick, and its interior is embelllished with ceilings featuring decorative plaster molding. Pope also presented the house with many characteristics unfamiliar to neighboring homes, such as fireproof concrete floors.

In the 1950s, the house was bequeathed to a local charity by the Branch family. It later housed offices for several businesses over the years. In 2003, the Virginia Center for Architecture acquired the house and eventually opened it to the public as an apt tribute to fine architecture.

Even though Monument Avenue, as a thoroughfare, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its history, beauty, planned design, and recognition as a top local attraction to the City of Richmond, Branch House is the only individual property on the thoroughfare distinguished on the registry.

Branch House, the Virginia Center for Architecture museum, is located at 2501 Monument Avenue. Free of charge to the public. Hours are Monday - Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Article reposted by permission: Tonya Rice, examiner.com