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February 25, 2008
Condemned, plus a Battery
A few finds from a stroll through Walnut Hill yesterday.
Condemned: 1751 Sherwood (built 1940)
Condemned: 1700 Fairfax (built 1925)
The latter was deemed unfit for habitation as recently as December 2007. As you might expect, both houses’ gutters have been yanked.
Battery 31:
The above are all located relative to each other as given here on googlemaps (where the ‘address’ on Battery 31 is an approximation, so as to get the pushpin to populate).
The year built info is from the Assessor’s website.
I am missing the relevance of this posting.
Um, drawing attention to amazing architecture in the area? — maybe one day I’ll be able to post a ‘rags to riches’ on these properties, rather than ‘rags to rubble’ — or maybe increased awareness of the historic nature of area properties will lead to fewer properties getting condemned notices posted on their door? Who knows what time has in store for the area. Meanwhile, I can document a few slices of the present for the benefit of the future.
Oh, and since some of us are new to the area, it is fun to share unexpected finds such as Battery 31.
What others have to say about posts such as this: “I firmly believe this was renovated because this website. Thanks John.” (this on Church Hill People’s News; see comment #2 on the thread for the quote)
I didn’t mean to offend. I asked a simple question. I had no idea what you meant by “find”. It is hard to determine your goal by posting two photos of houses and essentially only saying they are condemned.
To give you a little history of the house on Sherwood, except for the very occasional renter, this house has essentially be vacant for at least 20 years.
It is situated on a wonderful piece of property that extends back to Fairfax. It was once very of a garden spot. The owners are long since dead. There daughter, who owns it lives up in Maryland and I think she is pretty much up in age. The city will come in from time to time and cut down the overgrowth of bushes.
It really is in an ideal location with one of the largest (if not largest) houses in Petersburg right across the stree whose property takes up an entire city block.
To the left of the house and across the stree is a piece maintained by one of the area’s garden clubs which is a little park. The neighborhood is very quiet with really not much traffic. It is one of those areas that people have on their route when either exercising or out for the evening walk with the dog.
It truly is a hidden gem if someone is looking for a City piece of property on an uncommonly large lot. It is in a nice neighborhood and have LOTs of potential. I think the biggest problem is getting in contact with the owner to put it on the market and sell it.
My response to your post was not meant to be snitty in any way. I simply could not determine the motivation behind the post.
Ah, I see your point. :-) As a newbie that hasn’t clocked many walking miles around town (and most of those are in Old Town), there’s a lot that’s new to me (aka, a ‘find’). I can see how that would read funny to folks who know the area like the back of their hand.
Thanks also for some of the history. I agree this property is a gem. I was absolutely stunned by the details of the house and the park-like setting of the immediate area. (I should go back and take a pic or two of the park you reference above.)
With regards to the little park, if you take a pic now, it will certainly be nothing special. It may be best to wait until April when the things are in bloom. This is also the time that the garden club will spruce it up for Garden Week.
Take a another look at the house on Sherwood when things are in bloom again. I think there may still be a lot of color around that house in the spring. You may be tempted to snatch it up for yourself :-). Anyone buying with the intention of redoing and living in it would be MOST welcomed!
The first time I saw this house was about 3 years ago. I fell in love with it and asked the neighbors what the story was. I even considered leaving the county to live in Petersburg if we could get this house. Also, the little park mentioned in the previous post has been on the Petersburg garden tour held each year in April. There is a nice story that goes along with it posted on a plaque in the park. This area (and Sherwood Drive in general) is so beautiful and so reminiscent of how Petersburg used to be…and will again be, I hope.
Assessor records state that the house is owned by “WING, ROBERT E & ELIZABETH B” of Midlothian, so I guess the property has been transferred to these folks.
re: checking out the park and the Sherwood house in April — Will do. Look for updated pics on this site around that time.
Wow, I remember when we first started looking at homes in P’Burg, our realtor showed us the house next door to the Fairfax stone house (it was some sort of Mediterranean Stucco looking job) and I remarked at how great the stone house was. I LOVE the stone it was so very English Cottage looking and … I’m sad that it’s been condemned. The house on Sherwood looks like it has TONS of potential. I hate seeing the wonderful old homes being neglected - it’s a shame, really.
Ahhhh if I’d only won that $270 Million lottery….hehehe.
Brenda and Friends you’ve beat us to the punch. Last Sunday PetersburgTV.com started shooting a new internet video series “Unfiltered Petersburg”. This is a tour of Petersburg neighborhoods. The host Akin Smith is looking for people to talk about their neighborhoods while on a casual stroll. Talk about the good, bad and just interesting. If you’d like to guest host please contact info@petersburgtv.com.
Re: the garden near the Sherwood house — the Petersburg Garden Club’s website has some history on its Garden Week page:
Looked at the sherwood property several years ago…my understanding is that siblings own it and can’t agree..hence the non listing…it is great inside not sure how long the roof will last but at least the taxes to includen the city cleanups are being maintained…