You may have noticed one of our newest listings, Edgewood, located at 5436 Hopkins Road.
It’s a beautiful, historic property that has been thoughtfully expanded and updated in recent years to accommodate more modern tastes while respecting the character of the original architecture.
Speaking of the original architecture, I thought it might be nice to share a bit of its history with you.
The following excerpt is from a book published by the Chesterfield County Planning Department entitled Chesterfield County: Early Architecture and Historic Sites by Jeffrey M. O’Dell.
Edgewood, located off Hopkins Road in northeastern Chesterfield, is named for its original setting at the edge of a wooded tract bordering the open fields of adjoining Meadowbrook Farm. Erected in 1908 by Judith F. Winfree, wife of Rupert W. Winfree, it remained in the hands of the Winfree family until being sold to the present owners in the 1940s.
A two-story frame Colonial Revival house, Edgewood is distinguished from neighboring houses of its size and period by its ostentatious main facade. Viewed 
directly from the front, the house appears larger than it actually is; a view slightly to one side reveals the house to be of unextraordinary form and size. The facade of Edgewood functions as something of a stage set, behind the Roman Doric portico, the decorative balcony, and the oversize front windows surmounted by elliptical fanlights is a dwelling built on approximately the same dimensions as a number of simpler contemporary double-pile I-houses in the county, While it is an exceptional house for its period in Chesterfield, Edgewood’s scale and detailing is modest in comparison with suburban dwellings in many pre-World War I neighborhoods in Richmond.
Edgewood is said to have been built with unusually substantial brick chimneys because of Judith Winfree’s fear of fire; she had seen both her childhood home and the previous Winfree house at Meadowbrook go up in flames. An unusual interior feature of the house are the transoms over the interior doors opening from the central stair hall into the two principal rooms on the main floor. Because of the placement of these transoms, the fireplaces in either downstairs room are visible from the upstairs hall landing. While it has been said this was a deliberate safety device suggested by Mrs. Winfree, the transoms may simply have been a decorative feature.
If you are an architectural history aficionado looking for a new home or just someone looking for a unique property that may hold additional creative opportunities, I’d encourage you to reach out to us and schedule a visit.
