200 Block West Franklin Street Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Queen Anne Row is a group of five two-story rowhouses at 212-220 West Main Street in Richmond, built in 1891 on land owned by J. Cabell Brokenbrough as middle-class rental housing. The houses share common walls and have small rear courtyards. Their fronts combine seven contrasting colors of brick, granite, limestone and brownstone, and no two are alike. Turrets with patterned metal roofs, varied bay windows, colored glass and decorated entry porches break up the facade. Inside, the houses share a side-hall plan with two equal rooms joined by double doors, and most original mantels, doors and windows survive. Separate rear entrances allowed each to serve as a duplex or a single-family home. The row was left out of the 200 Block West Franklin Street Historic District when it was listed in 1977, although it is of similar construction and period and is linked to the block by a cobblestone alley. The houses became vacant in the 1980s and were being renovated for residential use.