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Ginter House is the historic former residence of
Lewis Ginter Lewis Ginter (April 4, 1824 – October 2, 1897) was an American businessman, financier, military officer, real estate developer, and philanthropist based in Richmond, Virginia. Ginter acquired his fortune through his various business ventures a ...
in
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. Built in 1892, it is owned by
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...
(VCU) and is home to the provost's office. It was used as Richmond's first public library from 1925 until 1930, was used as part of a school, and was the main administrative building on the Monroe Park, Virginia campus of VCU for more than 40 years.History
by Ray Bonis Office of the Provost, VCU It is now used as administrative offices.
In September 2020, the University’s Board of Visitors voted to de-commemorate several buildings on campus named for members of the Confederacy including the Lewis Ginter house. The house is now simply known as the "Office of the Provost".


History

The home was built from 1888 to 1892 for Ginter, a cigarette magnate and philanthropist who developed an area of Richmond's north side and built the Jefferson Hotel. Harvey L. Page and William Winthrop Kent were brought in from Washington, D.C. to design the home. It is three and one half stories high and includes a
polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...
al three-story tower. It uses brownstone at its base, pecked brownstone on the first floor, patterned brick, and stone panels. The roof employed Spanish tile. The home has a mahogany library and ironwork done by G. Krug and Sons. Ginter never married and lived in the home with John Pope, his younger business associate and long-time friend, and Ginter's niece Grace Arents. When Ginter died on October 2, 1897, the home and his fortune were left to Arents (1848-1926).


Richmond Public Library and Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health

In 1924, Ginter House became the first site for the newly founded Richmond Public Library. The home's library was used by students of the Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health which was established across the street in 1925 (now Founder's Hall). When the new Richmond library (aka Dooley Library) was opened in 1930, its books were moved to the new location and the Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health purchased Ginter House and property in 1930. It was used for its library, as classroom space and offices. It later became used only for administrative functions. The school became Richmond Professional Institute (RPI). It merged in 1968 with the
Medical College of Virginia The VCU Medical Center (VCU Health), formerly known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), is the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, United States. As MCV, VCU Medical Center merged ...
to become Virginia Commonwealth University. An east wing was added as part of a WPA project in 1939 and a west wing was added on to the back in 1949. An example of Richardsonian architecture, it is located on the corner of Shafer Street and West Franklin Street at 901 West Franklin Street. The home features decorative woodwork, ornate fireplaces,
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows, leather wallpaper and
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
detailing.Ginter House
VCU


Summer residence

In the late 19th century, Ginter built a large luxurious, Victorian-style mansion in Richmond's North Side for his summer home where he lived with John Pope. Westbrook had a tower, the top floor of which was used by the major as a private barbershop. The home was filled with dark wood paneling in oak, birch, mahogany and cherry. Fireplaces were constructed with imported tile in various designs and colors. It became a psychiatric hospital in 1911. The house was demolished in 1975.


See also

*
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a , botanical garden in Henrico County, just outside of Richmond, Virginia. It features over a dozen themed gardens, a conservatory, a library, and a café. Regular daily admission is $20 for adults, $15 for sen ...
* Bloemendaal (residence)


References


Further reading

*Dale Wheary "The Sense of Truth and Beauty: Harvey L. Page Builds a House for Lewis Ginter" from ''The Architecture of Virginia: Abstracts of the 1994 Architectural History Symposium'' Department of Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1994. *Mary H. Mitchell and Robert S. Hebb ''A History of Bloemendaal Richmond'' Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Inc. 1986. {{coord, 37.549004, -77.452871 , display=title Houses in Richmond, Virginia Houses completed in 1892 Virginia Commonwealth University Brick buildings and structures in Virginia 1892 establishments in Virginia