Barret House (Richmond, Virginia)

Built for tobacco manufacturer William Barret in 1844, the Barret House is a large and elaborate Greek Revival mansion located in the heart of downtown Richmond. The house is on 5th Street in the first riverside neighborhood to be developed in the city. Mr. Barret achieved his success as the original manufacturer of “Lucky Strike” chewing tobacco. It is said that when he died in 1870 he was the wealthiest man in the city. After Barret's death, French consul, Vicomte de Sibour, rented the mansion during his residency in Richmond. He engaged in the business of buying tobacco for his government and was well-known for his colorful parties. His children were part of the infamous “Fifth Street Gang”.

The Barret House is larger and more embellished but similar to the Scott-Clarke House of 1841 immediately to the north on the same block. The rectangular house has a shallow hipped roof with a slender brick chimney in each corner. The main facade facing 5th Street is symmetrical with a small Ionic entrance portico. The most frequently-noted feature is the three-story rear porch, one of the best examples in the city of a rear two-story colonnade. The porch originally offered excellent views of downtown Richmond and the James River. Over time rear porches would become more utilitarian, but early Richmond houses often focused more attention on the garden façade than on the street front.

The originally frescoed, high-ceilinged interior of the house has a central hall and a curved, cantilevered, mahogany staircase. Other notable features of the property include a brick auxiliary building in the rear, an impressive retaining wall of Richmond granite, and the surviving cast-iron fence with pineapple-topped posts around the property. The secondary brick building originally housed the servants on the upper floor and stables on the ground level.