The Chesterfield Highlands Historic District, composed of fifteen city blocks, is a compact urban neighborhood in the heart of the City. the district was developed in the early decades of the twentieth century as a carefully planned middle class neighborhood. Covering approximately fifty acres, the historic district is bounded by East Westover Avenue on the north, Pickwick Avenue on the south, Lafayette Avenue on the east, and the Boulevard on the west. The boundaries of the district correspond to the legally platted subdivision boundaries filed in Chesterfield County in 1916. The district features a spectrum of architectural styles popular in the first half of the twentieth century. Integrated within the district are three prominent community churches. The internal streets of the district are quiet and protected such that the neighborhood retains the peaceful feeling of its suburban origin.
The Violet Bank Historic District is located in Colonial Heights, Virginia, and is a prototypical streetcar suburb that reflects broad trends in early twentieth-century residential development and community planning in the United States. The district contains the majority of two residential subdivisions - Colonial Heights Extended and Riverside Park-that were once part of Violet Bank Farm, a late-eighteenth-century estate notable for serving as General Robert E. Lee's headquarters for six months in 1864.
Through the federal and state rehabilitation tax credit programs, property owners are given substantial incentives for private investment in preservation, resulting in enormous advantages to the public.
Both the federal and state tax credit programs are administered in Virginia through the Department of Historic Resources.
