Rose Hill

Rose Hill
Rose Hill Neighborhood
County Area	Albemarle
Size	0.18 sq miles
Housing	Single-family
Schools*
Middle	Burley Middle School
Other Attributes
*Confirm attendance boundaries for individual homes with school divisions

The Rose Hill neighborhood is located in the center of Charlottesville and was annexed by the city of Charlottesville in 1916. It is home to Washington Park. Other than parkland and educational use, Rose Hill is mostly comprised of single-family residential housing to the north of Rose Hill Drive with shopping centers along Preston Avenue, a mixture of commercial buildings, apartments, condominiums and single-family residential housing along Rose Hill Drive and areas to the south.

Boundaries

Covering about 81 acres, Rose Hill is approximately bound by Preston Avenue, Madison Avenue and railroad/Albemarle Street to the south - located just west of North Downtown and south of Kelly Town-Rugby Heights, southeast of Venable and northeast of 10th & Page neighborhoods. Its name is derived from the original Rose Hill Plantation which was part of about a half a dozen large family farms that surrounded the town of Charlottesville in the years prior to the Civil War.

History

The neighborhood was once part of the Rose Hill Plantation which was bought by John H. Craven in 1820. After his death, the property was divided into three tracts. In 1867, several lots were sold to newly emancipated slaves as well as the Piedmont Industrial and Land Improvement Company. Eventually The Charlottesville Industrial and Land Improvement Company purchased the property and laid out a street grid in 1891. A farmhouse on the property was destroyed around 1930.

“The Colonel T.L. Preston and Andrew F. Craven farms were on the Northwest and North and extended to the old Southern Railroads.”

The Charlottesville Industrial and Land Improvement Company in fact, owned all but 50-60 acres of the Rose Hill land. John Craven's descendants continued to live in the Rose Hill house and to farm on the surrounding 35 acres. There was only one part of the former estate that the Improvement Company did not control. This was a strip of land along Barracks Road (today Preston Avenue) that the Craven Family had subdivided into 23 lots. African American families settled upon the upper portion of this strip after the Civil War, establishing mini-neighborhoods that are now known as Kellytown and Tinsleytown. Further south, lots 16 and 17, together identified as the Grove Lot, remained in the hands of the Craven's and their in-laws, the Wills family, until 1904. James Hayden bought the land at this time and sold it to the City of Charlottesville a few months later. By the 1900's, Preston Avenue had become a corridor of African-American settlements in Charlottesville. Although the area was still rural in character, there were fewer and fewer large tracts of open land. Encompassing 9.5 acres, the Grove lot (or "Pest House property," as it was known in the early twentieth century) caught the eye of a wealthy philanthropist named Paul Goodloe McIntire. In 1926 he bought the Grove Lot from the city only to donate it back as "a public park and playground for the colored people of the City of Charlottesville." (Source: The City as a Park: A Citizen's Guide to Charlottesville Parks. Prepared by Gregg Bleam Landscape Architects. Historian Aaron Wunsch.)

Businesses

Rose Hill is home to several eating establishments, including BreadWorks Bakery & Deli, Sticks Kebob Shop, Shenandoah Joe Coffee Roasters, MarieBette Café and Bakery, and Ace Biscuit & Barbecue, Gitchell’s Studio. Rose Hill also features easy access to the Route 250 Bypass, Downtown, and Washington Park.

Development

The Rose Hill Property, as platted by The Charlottesville Industrial and Land Company (also called The Charlottesville Land Company), was annexation into the City of Charlottesville on August 1, 1916. At that time, lots were advertised as “within three to ten minutes’ walk to the Junction depot” and inclusive blocks “reserved for manufacturing purposes.” Much of the current neighborhood north of Rose Hill Drive was developed in the early 1900’s. By the 1950's the Rose Hill neighborhood was comprised of a mixture of working-class housing, small family-owned businesses and large manufacturing companies, such as the Essex Corp. fountain pens and pencils company, built to be served by the rail spurs.

• The home of Walter William King (1869-1928), president of the King Lumber Company founded in 1899, was once located at the north corner of Preston Avenue and Albemarle Street.

• At 1001 Preston Ave is the 12.1-acre city park named in honor of Booker T. Washington, which includes a picnic shelter, swimming pool with play equipment, and recreational fields.

• At 901 Rose Hill Drive is the 17.6-acre Albemarle County middle school named in honor of a prominent community leader and resident, Jackson P. Burley.

• 1000 & 1002 Rose Hill Drive (Corner of Rose Hill & Cynthianna Ave): On July 16, 2012, Charlottesville's City Council voted to deny a rezoning request made by developer Rosanna Danna LLC, citing a concern that the six-unit apartment complex plan was not in keeping with the area's single-family home preference. Following the decision, the developers stated their intention to pursue single-family homes for rent on the land instead.

• 624 Booker Street: On July 5, 2016, Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously to deny a request to rezone the commercially zoned property to allow for a recently built structure to be used as a three-unit apartment. Developers Timothy Nessen and Sheldon Cohn purchased the property in the fall of 2012 and obtained a building permit for a three-story structure in August 2013. During construction, inspectors with the city’s Neighborhood Development Services (NDS) notified the pair that the building appeared to be intended for three separate units which would be in violation of the zoning code. After Nessen and Cohn abandoned the project, developer Richard Spurzem bought the unfinished building (as well as the adjacent 626 Booker St.) and sought rezoning to allow for the properties to operate as three apartments. As part of the re-zoning submittal, the developer proposed to convert the vacant lot at 626 Booker St. into an outdoor living space/garden. Since 2016, the partially constructed building has been secured with plywood barriers.

The City of Charlottesville has designated lots and parcels of land contiguous to Preston Avenue, from McIntire Road to Rosser Avenue, as Entrance Corridor Overlay districts "to ensure through design review that corridor development is compatible with the City’s historic landmarks, buildings, and structures." The Planning Commission has been designated as the Entrance Corridor Review Board (ERB). http://www.charlottesville.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=18812

Historic Survey

Charlottesville is conducting a historic survey of nearly 180 structures in the area, the first step in a potential historic conservation district for the neighborhood.