The Rice House is a residence on Lock Island in the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Designed by modernist architect

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; 8 April 1892 – 16 April 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most ...

, it was built in the 1960s. Since 1999 the house has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The house is notable as being one of the only house in Richmond built in the

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

. Characteristic of many of Neutra's houses, the architecture features strong horizontal elements detailed in what appear to be concrete, but are actually faced wood and steel beams. The 6,000 square foot house is made of marble from Georgia and is stretched out along a granite ridge running parallel to the river. Perched 110-feet above the James River, the living room of the Rice House offers a view overlooking

Williams Dam Williams Island Dam is located on the James River in the independent city of Richmond, Virginia. Just below the dam, of rapids mark the descent of the river downstream through the geological Fall Line region to the navigable tidal portion below R ...

. Fenestration is provided by expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors. Other details of the house follow the International Style: exterior railings, balconies and layered, flat roofs.

History

The Rice House is named for Walter Lyman Rice (1903–1998), a retired top executive of the

Reynolds Metals Company Reynolds Group Holdings was a New Zealand–based packaging company with roots in the former Reynolds Metals Company, which was the second-largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third-largest in the world. Reynolds Metals was acqu ...

who served as

United States Ambassador to Australia The position of United States Ambassador to Australia has existed since 1940. Australia–United States relations, U.S.–Australian relations have been close throughout the history of Australia. Before World War II, Australia was closely aligne ...

from 1969 through 1973, and his wife, Inger, a native of Denmark, who commissioned Neutra in 1962. Construction took place between 1962 and 1965.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Richard Neutra buildings Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1962 National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia International style architecture in Virginia Houses in Richmond, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia

History

See also

References