The Fan is a district of Richmond, Virginia. Its borders are Broad Street to the north and I-95 to the south. The area derives its name from the “fan” shape of the streets that extend west from Belvidere Street to the Boulevard. Known for its modern culture, popular restaurants, active nightlife and Victorian architecture, the Fan is one of Richmond’s most desirable neighborhoods for young professionals.

The Fan District consists of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century homes. It is also home to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus and several parks, a large number of cafes and locally-owned restaurants. The Fan District is also the home of historic Monument Avenue.

Monument Avenue is a premier example of the “Grand American Avenue” style of city planning. A statue of Robert E. Lee was the first to be erected in 1890. Between 1900 and 1925, the avenue saw an explosion of architecturally-significant structures, and a grassy mall between the east and west-bound sides of the avenue became dotted with more of Virginia’s Confederate heroes, including Jeb Stuart, Jefferson Davis and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

The Fan borders and blends with the Boulevard, the Museum District, and the Carytown district. Its main east-west thoroughfares include Broad Street, Grace Street, Monument Avenue, Patterson Avenue, Grove Avenue, Main Street and Cary Street. Almost all of the homes here were constructed in the early part of the twentieth century. They feature Edwardian, Colonial Revival and American Craftsman architecture.

One notable structure is Branch House, circa 1916, now the home of Virginia Center for Architecture, one of the few architectural museums in the United States. Located on Monument Avenue, the 27,000 square foot mansion was designed in the Tudor-Jacobean style and remains one of a few works by architect John Russell Pope in which the original interior has survived.