Morson's Row

Morson's Row is a group of three Victorian townhouses at 219-223 Governor Street in Richmond, erected in 1853 by James Marion Morson as rental properties. Each house has three stories and a flat roof. The walls are brick, but the facade is stuccoed. Italianate features include heavy bracketed cornices, arched door enframements and elaborately molded consoled lintels over the windows. The most distinctive element is the off-center, two-bay bow on each house, which gives the row an undulating quality and brings more light into the rooms; the form recalls Boston rows such as Louisburg Square. The houses step to different levels to follow the slope of the lot, and most original interiors survive, including mahogany doors and marble mantels. The row was listed for its architecture and its setting, since it closes the east end of Capitol Street along Capitol Square and serves as a backdrop to the Governor's Mansion. After the Morson family sold them, the houses passed through several hands and are now separately owned.