Must-See RVA! — Talavera

2315 West Grace Street
Built, 1838

A beautiful, ancient house, once owned by C. F. Sauer, tucked away in a quiet section of West Grace Street.

“Talavera” has the peculiar interest of being the only house still standing in Richmond where Edgar Allan Poe is known to have been a visitor. The house was built in 1838 by Thomas Talley on a tract of land that had formerly belonged to “The Hermitage,” country home of John Mayo. The land between the Richmond Turnpike (Broad Street) and a continuation of Franklin Street, from what is now Meadow Street to the present Boulevard, was sold off by the Mayos in 1816, and in 1838 Talley began to buy up these lots until he had accumulated twenty-five acres. On this farm he built the house, called “Talavera” from his family name.

(Chronicling America) — Home of C. F. Sauer — Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 23, 1921

Thomas Talley’s daughter, Susan Archer, who later became the wife of Louis Weiss, knew Poe during his last visits to Richmond. She reports that in the late summer of 1849 her family saw a good deal of him, while he was spending pleasant evenings at her home or at nearby “Duncan Lodge.” Poe came to see her one drizzly morning in September and discussed with her in detail the composition of “The Raven.”

(CWR) — Vicinity of Richmond map, from the Official Records Atlas

Apparently the Talleys were not in Richmond during the Civil War. Mrs. Weiss graphically describes her return to her old home, which had been surrounded with fortifications:

“What a shock to me was the first sight of it! In place of the pleasant, smiling home, there stood a bare and lonely house in the midst of encircling fortifications, still bristling with dismantled gun-carriages. Every outbuilding had disappeared. All the beautiful trees which had made it so attractive—even the young cedar of Lebanon, which had been our pride—were gone; greenhouses, orchard, vineyard, everything, had been swept away, leaving only a dead level, overgrown with broom-straw, amidst which were scattered rusty bayonets… . The place was no longer Talavera, but Battery 10… . In this desolate abode I remained some time, awaiting the arrival of our scattered family, and with no protectors save a faithful old negro couple. Each evening we would barricade … against the hordes of newly freed negroes who roamed the country, living on whatever they could pick up.”

(Chronicling America) — Drawing Room — Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 23, 1921

Mrs. Weiss’s marriage was a failure. She spent the rest of her long life in Richmond, but not at “Talavera.” That was sold in 1871 and ’72. In 1886 it became part of a land-development project of James W. Allison and Edmond B. Addison, recalled by Allison and Addison Streets nearby. From 1904 to 1922 “Talavera,” by then closely surrounded with new dwellings, belonged to C. F. Sauer, the manufacturer of flavoring extracts, who owned the Japanese garden some blocks west. From 1923 to 1930 the house was the property of Richmond Post No. 1 of the American Legion, which had its headquarters there.

(Chronicling America) — Hall & Reception Room — Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 23, 1921

Surrounded with recent houses, the old Talley farmhouse has little to remind one of the country surroundings which Poe had delighted to visit. If one can with the mind’s eye remove the ugly terrace and balustrade in front and the highly fanciful windows, one can see that it is a very old house. With its beaded clapboarding and tall chimney at either end, one would be tempted to think it was a contemporary of the Craig house rather than of the Westmoreland Club!

[HOR]

“Talavera,” in addition to the primary interest of its connection with Poe, serves as another link in the chain of evidence that houses built in the (then) suburbs of Richmond retained architectural characteristics of a much earlier period than those built in the city proper. [HOR]

Oddly, this house is not on the Historic Register for Richmond, but arguably, it ought to be.

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