Oaklette Historic District

Oaklette is a planned streetcar suburb on a peninsula bounded by Indian River in Chesapeake, Virginia. The land was once the estate of Mathew Hare. His descendants sold a parcel for a Methodist chapel in 1883 and platted the community in 1904, as a streetcar line was being built through the property. Lots were laid out on a gridiron, with larger parcels along the waterfront to maximize saleable water views. By 1905 many inland lots were subdivided into narrower parcels. Most early houses date from 1905 to 1915 and include Colonial Revival dwellings. Craftsman Bungalows followed in the 1920s, and brick ranch houses came after World War II. A Colonna family houseboat, moved inland by a hurricane in 1933, and the remains of the Colonna estate add to the district. The district was listed for its community planning and development significance between 1883 and 1940, and it keeps its early street pattern and character.