House Virtual Tour

The first two owners of the house were both African American doctors; first Dr. James Ferguson followed by Dr. Robert Jones. Jones commissioned the first round of renovations. He expanded the house through the empty half-lot to the west, incorporating an indoor kitchen, and installing new bedrooms upstairs. Dr. Jones used the street-facing first floor addition as his physician’s office. Patients entered the doctor’s office through the recessed entrance office.  The Jones family entered the residence through the main double-leaf entrance.

In 1904, Maggie L. Walker purchased the house for $4,800. Although married at the time, only Mrs. Walker’s name is on the deed and it was only her money used for the purchase. She moved into the house a year later with her husband, Armstead; mother, Elizabeth Mitchell; two sons, Russell and Melvin; and adopted daughter, Margaret “Polly” Anderson, later Payne.

Over the course of her occupancy, Mrs. Walker commissioned major changes to the home, inside and out, to accommodate her ever-growing family. Today, visitors see the extensive renovations completed in 1922 by Mr. Charles T. Russell, Virginia’s first African American architect. He designed the columned front porch, a second story open balcony (enclosed in 1924), and bedrooms that extend to the carriage house at the property edge.

After Mrs. Walker’s death in 1934, her daughter-in-law, Hattie, inherited the house and remained there until 1971. In 1978, her daughter, Maggie Laura, deeded the house to the National Park Service.