Queen Anne home given another chance

The Queen Anne-style home exhibits obvious signs of distress. The front porch, for example, looks dangerous, the light blue and red paint is peeling, and there’s debris everywhere.

Richmond’s Historic Preservation Commission, however, sees a brighter future at 1828 E. Main St., and its members gave the structure a third chance. The board voted 6-0 not to allow Dr. Adam Reising, an optometrist practicing across North 19th Street, to demolish the structure. 

“It is an incredibly gorgeous home on the inside,” said board member Roxie Deer, who toured the building, was impressed with the woodwork and said it’s structurally sound.

Reising, who did not attend the Sept. 9 hearing, bought the property in 2021 after the HPC first denied a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the house, which was built between 1880 and 1900. With its steep roof, asymmetrical front facade, and expansive porch with decorative wood trim, it is called the best-preserved Queen Anne-style home in the city’s Linden Hill Conservation District. Chamaea Edwards, who, along with Megan Ripberger, joined the commission at the meeting’s beginning, researched the house and found that Samuel Dickinson, president of Dickinson Trust Company, lived in it with his wife Laura during the early 1900s.

With their decision, commission members committed to assisting Reising with initial steps to stabilize the house and develop strategies to market and save it. The members recognize safety concerns and the deteriorating building’s impact on neighbors, so they talked about spending their time and recruiting volunteers to clean up debris and make sure the house does not continue deteriorating.

“The first thing for the neighbors’ sake is to get in there and clean this up,” said commission member Jerry Purcell, who supported demolition before being swayed during the meeting.

Members also looked toward helping prevent similar situations with the city’s historic structures. Member Josh Imhoff suggested something like a task force that could assist property owners with problems, such as a roof, before they worsen.

“I do think that we need to, as a commission, think about what our role is in preventing this from happening in the future, because this should not have gotten this bad without us stepping in or without more action at an earlier date,” said Deer, who is executive director of Richmond Neighborhood Restoration. “But I do think this house is worth saving.”

Neighbor Tony Whalen strongly advocated for demolition and Reising’s plan of green space on the corner lot.

“That house is junk, and it has been junk, and it needs to go,” Whalen said.

Another neighbor, Robert Emmenegger, suggested commission members ask themselves what will come next if the house were demolished. Would neighboring houses quickly find the same fate? Would that eventually lead to a Dollar General on the site?

Walker, Deer and Edwards said the home is not as bad as some that have been saved. Deer said the Hill House that RNR restored at 2237 E. Main St. was in worse condition and, after renovation, sold for $290,000.

“I would like to see everyone in the whole community try to do what we could to preserve a home like this before we go to the desperate measure of condemning it,” said commission member Michele Walker.