Riddick House, also known as Riddicks Folly, is a historic home located at

Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such has no county. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 9th most populous city in Virginia and the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as ...

. It was built in 1837, and is a -story, five bay by four bay,

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style brick townhouse. The front facade features a one-story diastyle

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with a triangular pediment supported by two fluted columns and two plain pilasters. It also has a one-story tetrastyle portico added across the south end in 1905. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, General

John J. Peck John James Peck (January 4, 1821 – April 21, 1878) was a United States soldier who fought in the Mexican–American War and American Civil War. Early life Peck was born on January 4, 1821, in Manlius, New York. His father, John W. Peck, who had ...

and his staff maintained Union Army staff headquarters in the house. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. It is located in the

Suffolk Historic District Suffolk Historic District is a national historic district located at Suffolk, Virginia. The district encompasses 514 contributing buildings, 3 contributing structures, and 3 contributing objects in Suffolk. The district includes a variety of re ...

. Riddick's Folly is open as a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

References

External links

Official website
Greek Revival houses in Virginia Houses completed in 1837 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses in Suffolk, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk, Virginia Historic house museums in Virginia Tourist attractions in Suffolk, Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia {{SuffolkVA-NRHP-stub