Elegant Boutique Hotel with Rich History

Sweet gum and linden trees canopy a secluded courtyard marking the site of a garden where Edgar Allan Poe played as a boy. Legend has it that this is where the poet first courted Elmira Royster, believed by many to have inspired Lenore in “The Raven” and the title character of “Annabel Lee.” Today, the courtyard—with its two-tier fountain and round café tables—serves as a quiet refuge on the grounds of the handsome Linden Row Inn.

Doric columns and American flags grace the façade of the Greek Revival hotel, which is comprised of seven row houses built in the middle of the 19th century. Period furnishings and Victorian antiques fill the interior. In main-house king accommodations, jewel-toned linens dress a king-size bed. Beneath 12-foot ceilings in each double-bed guest room, an inactive fireplace sits between a commodious TV armoire and an antique dresser. Ample sunlight spills in from towering windows.

The inn’s lobby houses rotating art exhibitions designed to unite historical architecture with contemporary artwork. Selections from Richmond’s 1708 Gallery decorate the white brick walls of the hotel's dining room, where each morning guests perched on floral upholstered chairs sample a complimentary continental breakfast.

Richmond, Virginia: Historical Civil War City with Classic Architecture and Natural Beauty

Richmond is the capital of Virginia, but during the Civil War it also served as the capital of the short-lived Confederate States of America. A 1-mile walk down Broad Street from Linden Row brings visitors to the Museum of the Confederacy, a modern gallery that recounts the history of the period and displays military artifacts such as Stonewall Jackson's forage cap and Robert E. Lee's field tent.

Located 7 miles north of the inn, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden encompasses more than a dozen themed gardens on 40 meticulously cultivated acres. In the Healing Garden, medicinal plants and a granite mortar-and-pestle installation celebrate the restorative properties of botanicals. The Sunken Garden harks back to ancient Roman landscaping methods with a reflecting pool, beds of pastel blooms, and a togas-only dress code.