Col. I. Shelby Irvine House/Amberley

MANW-18
867 West Main Street, Richmond
1885

First owed by Col. I. Shelby Irvine (1824-1906), Amberley is one of four houses in Richmond designed by Cincinnati architect Samuel E. Des Jardins. Katherine Phelps Caperton (1866-1945) and her daughter Jamie Caperton bought Amberley in 1919 and moved from Blair Park.

Amberley represents the Queen Anne preferred by Des Jardins. A wooden veranda having turned and sawn ornamental details, typical of this style, wraps around the asymmetrical plan. The sloped-roof veranda encloses a large, conical three-story tower. A gable at one end of the veranda, supported by paired, turned posts, provides access to the entrance. From the high hipped roof project tall chimneys and large gables, the ends having decorative wood framing and pedimented attic windows.
An iron fence on Main Street encloses the estate and connects four original stone gate posts that are incised with the name Amberley.