Downtown – Richmond, Virginia
We were only in Richmond long enough to catch a hotel room for the night and to say hello to some new people the next morning. While visiting I did my best to see the sights and catch a few other quick observations.
Waking up to the Virginia State Capitol across from my hotel was a welcome start to the day. The golden glow of the rising sun was held beneath the portico.
Viewed straight on the axial symmetry, pediment, columns and two wings have a highly rational and regal effect. One must ascend a hill to arrive at this public building that evokes the classical buildings of Greece and Rome.
Curiously, nearby was a pastiche of modern and older buildings, or at least made to look old. An effort was made to respect the pedestrian scale, while an enormous building mass and glass curtain wall engulfed everything around it. The text on the valance “Building a Brighter Future” had a double meaning to it as I reflected what did this replace?
While a cute an efficient use of a small space, apparently Bowties were no longer available here.
As I approached the building where I had my morning meeting, I appreciated how the treatment of the sidewalk with stone flags, brick trim, and stone curbs created a dignified walkway. The historic building to the side created grounding and a definable landmark. While the tower set in the distance somehow seemed to fit in the viewshed.
After my meeting I came across the Stewart-Lee House. Built In 1844 for Norman Stewart, a Scottish tobacco merchant, the houre was rented from his nephew, John Stewart, hy Gen. Robert E. Lee’s
family during the Civil War. Following Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, he lived here for just over two months. in 1895, John Stewart’s widow
and daughters donated the house to the Virginia Historical Society, which occupied it until 1958. Subsequently, it was used by the Museum of the Confederacy and Historic Richmond Foundation.
The building, the sole survivor of Stewart’s Row, is one of the finest Greek Revival town houses in the city.
This coffee company and roastery was some of the only life I saw downtown. While playful the only available seat being occupied by a skeleton did not make this the most welcoming space.
Following my departure it was several hours back to Kentucky where I arrived back home just in time for the sunset. A small contrail in the sky and the setting sun pointed me in the direction of home.