The L-shaped house at the end of Tow Path Lane overlooks the river and nearby train bridge. (Photos courtesy CVRMLS)
A riverside house with a prime view of Richmond’s arched railroad bridge is hitting the market with a multimillion-dollar price tag.
The 6,100-square-foot house at 21 S. Tow Path Lane, in the Kanawha Trace neighborhood near Byrd Park, was listed last week as a “coming soon” property. It was scheduled to become an active listing today (Friday) with an asking price of $3.75 million.
Doug Dorsey with Shaheen, Ruth, Martin & Fonville Real Estate has the listing, representing sellers Kevin and Ilene McFadden. Kevin is a principal and co-founder of local development firm Rebkee and is CEO of RAIR Systems, a Michigan-based cannabis company.
The two-level house includes a 2,400-square-foot patio with gas fire pit.
Dorsey would not discuss the McFaddens’ plans or reasons for listing the home, which they built in 2009 after buying the nearly 1-acre lot for $700,000. The city assessed the property this year at $1.67 million.
Doug Dorsey
Dorsey said the McFaddens designed the house to take full advantage of its riverfront views and taking inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright, whose famed Fallingwater house can be seen in the home’s stacked-slab fireplace mantel and accent walls.
“The owners spent a lot of time on the design and the construction. They were very thoughtful and were really fun on trying to figure out how to make it a neat house, take in the views and enjoy the architecture that they created,” Dorsey said.
Situated on a bluff at the end of a cul-de-sac, the house is near the Carillon and just downriver from the arched James River Railway Bridge, which Dorsey said factored into its design.
Noting the home’s roughly 2,400-square-foot patio overlooking the river, Dorsey said, “You see the wildlife, you see paddleboarders, and of course the train trestle is beautiful architecturally. They designed it so that when you’re on that terrace, you see the train trestle but you do not see the (Powhite Parkway).”
The home’s riverfront views are highlighted throughout the house.
Working with builder Austin-Davidson, a Henrico-based firm that’s no longer active, the McFaddens leaned on Kevin’s experience in development to build the house on the site, which Dorsey said required a good amount of rock-blasting.
“I think the lot sat there for quite some time because no one could quite figure out how to make it work, and he, being in the business, figured out how to blast the rock,” he said. “It’s all poured concrete and steel, very well-wedged into that lot.”
Totaling five bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms, the two-story, cedar-sided home includes open living areas with sizable windows and doors highlighting the views. A first-floor primary suite includes a heated-floor bathroom, and the kitchen includes leathered granite countertops and a NanaWall folding wall that creates an indoor-outdoor living space.
A nearly 800-ball glass-blown chandelier accents the dining room, and a screened porch and elevated deck are off the kitchen. The patio includes a gas fire pit, and the house also includes two bars, an exercise room and a three-car garage with electric vehicle hookup.
A folding wall off the kitchen area creates an indoor-outdoor living space.
Since entering the listing in the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service, Dorsey said he’s scheduled several showings and fielded calls from multiple interested parties. He said he expects interest from both local and out-of-town homebuyers.
“It’s such an amazing property and so different, it’ll be interesting to see what comes out of the woodwork,” Dorsey said. “It’s like a piece of art. It was very hard to price. It’s just so different and not your usual four-square colonial in Richmond, Virginia, which is a neat thing. The good news is there’s a lot people from various parts of the world coming to our town that appreciate that kind of stuff too.”
The house is just downhill from the century-old Doolough Lodge mansion, which sold in late 2021 after it was listed three years earlier at $2.59 million. The 7,500-square-foot house at 1 Brockenbrough Lane sold for $1.16 million to Vitalized Properties LLC, a Mechanicsville-based entity owned by Lori Eubanks. Eubanks said at the time she planned to renovate and resell it.
The McFaddens’ house will join another multimillion-dollar listing that hit the market in recent weeks. In Chesterfield County, Jeremy and Monaca Vanderpool are selling their 10,000-square-foot house overlooking Lake Chesdin with an asking price of $3.95 million.
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