Hidden in Plain Sight :: The Fan Townhouse :: Oct. 16, 2014
7–9 p.m.
Bob Winthrop introduces “The ‘Ordinary’ Fan Townhouse.”
The huge number and good state of preservation of the townhouses of the Fan and of the West of the Boulevard areas has tended to diminish their reputation: with so many of them, how can they be that good? The townhouses are the final stage of a century of evolution, starting with the first double houses of the turn of the 19th Century. They are sophisticated works of architecture, carefully reflecting the needs and tastes of Richmond. With many of the houses 100 to 130 years old now, it is time to take a fresh look at their architectural significance and value to Richmond.
Bob Winthrop
Robert P. Winthrop received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia in 1970, where he received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal for design excellence at graduation. He moved to Richmond in 1971 and began his extensive study of and involvement with Virginia’s architectural heritage as an associate with Glave Newman Anderson, Architects.
Since establishing his own practice in 1982, Robert P. Winthrop has been specializing in institutional, church, and residential work, with emphasis on the renovation of architecturally significant buildings. Projects range in scale from modest residential renovations to institutional buildings over 36,000 square feet. He has designed more than fifty church projects including Heritage United Methodist, St. John’s Episcopal, and First Presbyterian churches in Lynchburg, and the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and Chester Presbyterian Church in Richmond.
Robert Winthrop’s work has received awards from the James River Chapter of the AIA for the design of the Staunton River Memorial Library in Altavista and the Krumbein Residence in Richmond. The renovation and additions to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart received the Historic Richmond Foundation’s top award in 1992 for technical and design excellence.
Mr. Winthrop was a long-time member of the Commission of Architectural Review and the Urban Design Committee for the City of Richmond. He has written and lectured extensively on the history of Richmond’s architecture. His books and articles include The Architecture of Jackson Ward, Cast and Wrought: the Architectural Metalwork of Downtown Richmond, and Virginia and Architecture in Downtown Richmond. Ten articles, written for the Richmond Times Dispatch, were published as Richmond’s Architecture. He has given major lecture series for the Monument Avenue Foundation and The Virginia Historical Society. He is the co-author, with Sarah Driggs and Richard Guy Wilson, of Richmond’s Monument Avenue, published in 2001.