How old is 1628 Matthews?
From the Historic Richmond Foundation‘s Facebook and a series they call “Under the Radar.”
A comment on one of the photos ask an interesting question:
I’ve always been skeptical of the 1890′s date, though – stylistically, it looks to be much older, maybe even pre-Civil War. It would be great to find some old photos of the place (or to get a tour of the interior!). I think I’ve heard that it used to owned by the Caravati family. How can Southside be “encouraged” to either restore or sell the property?
Historic Richmond found this today:
The property was purchased by Rudolph Kastelburg. It is a rare surviving example of the houses that were spaced at intervals on the tracts that lined the Meadowbridge Road in the mid-19th century. The building is a contributing building in the potential Chestnut Hill/Plateau Historic District.
Architecture Summary: Frame 2-story, 5-bay double-pile center-passage plan dwelling with central 2-story porch at entry bay sheltering doors on each floor with transoms flanked by 6/6 sash, shallow hipeed standing seam metal roof, massive brick chimneys placed between the two rooms that open to each side of the central passage. Sawn brackets on the cornice across at the rear
suggest that the west front was the principal front originally. The chimneys feature inset panel on the front. One-story bracketed porch of three bays on west front.
It was built in 1879.