Columbia House, Richmond

Columbia House, also known as the Philip Haxall House, is a historic residence situated in Richmond. This Federal-style villa, one of the rare survivors of its kind, was constructed between 1817 and 1818. It was originally built for Philip Haxall, a businessman from Petersburg who relocated to Richmond in 1810 to manage the Columbia Flour Mills. The house is named after these mills.

The structure of Columbia House is a two-story, three-bay brick dwelling built atop a high basement. Its architectural features include an elliptical fanlight above the entrance, which is protected by a one-story Doric porch. This porch addition was part of a 1924 renovation when the main entrance was moved from the Lombardy Street side to the Grace Street side. This renovation also included an expansion to accommodate the T.C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond.

In 1834, the Baptist Education Society acquired the property, transforming it into the main academic building for Richmond College, which later became the University of Richmond. The building continued to house the School of Law from 1917 until 1954. By 1984, the American Historical Foundation purchased Columbia, using it as its headquarters and hosting a military museum until the property was sold in 2005.

Columbia House faced a new chapter in 2013 when it was put up for auction. By late 2014, Thalhimer Realty Partners, Inc., acquired the property. They repurposed this historic home from office space into Columbia Apartments, thus continuing its legacy of adaptive reuse.

The property was officially recognized for its historical significance when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.