{"nrhp_refnum":"69000346","name":"Beers, William, House","other_names":["Beers House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1228 E. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.53870869900004,"lon":-77.42971160999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick Greek Revival townhouse at 1228 E. Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia, built in 1839 by William Beers, a merchant tailor.","why_significant":"The nomination concedes the house is not especially distinguished in a historic sense. It argues the house is an integral link in a group of historic buildings in the Medical College of Virginia area, near Monumental Church, the African Baptist Church and the Egyptian Building. It is also described as the last remaining early house on Broad Street west of Shockoe Valley.","narrative":"Built in 1839 by William Beers, a merchant tailor, this brick townhouse at 1228 E. Broad Street in Richmond began as a Greek Revival house of two and a half stories with a gable roof and dormers. The Beers family added a third story in 1860, topping the building with an Italianate bracketed cornice and shallow hipped roof. The change is sympathetic but visible in the brickwork. The three-bay facade has a door with sidelights and pilasters under a porch with coupled Greek Doric columns. Inside, a fine early staircase and most other features remain largely intact. An iron fence set in a brick retaining wall encloses the small front yard. The Beers family owned the house until 1872, and the Morris Nelson family held it from 1883 to 1909. The Medical College of Virginia acquired it in 1965 for offices. Its importance lies in its setting at College and Broad Streets, beside Monumental Church, the African Baptist Church and the Egyptian Building, and as the last early house on Broad Street west of Shockoe Valley.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1839)","architect_builder":"William Beers, merchant tailor (builder/original owner)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, with an Italianate bracketed cornice","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as indifferently maintained but with most interior features intact; the form marks condition as deteriorated and occupied. Acquired by the Medical College of Virginia in 1965 and used for offices.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.593143-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/6828/41682884/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000346.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000346/df113a7c20-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000346/df113a7c20-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Morgan Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BeersHouseCropped.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Morgan Riley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BeersHouseCropped.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000982","name":"James River and Kanawha Canal Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/james-river-and-kanawha-canal-historic-district-71000982/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682884","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beers_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15615834"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/beers-william-house-69000346/"}