The house at 29 Rio Vista Lane is under contract after being listed at $4.5 million. (Images courtesy CVRMLS)
Temperatures may be cooling but Richmond’s high-end housing market is staying hot, as two listings in recent weeks from the same real estate agent came in above the $4 million mark.
Earlier this month, 29 Rio Vista Lane hit the market with an asking price of $4.5 million. The 5,900-square-foot house near the Country Club of Virginia went under contract a week later on Oct. 19, two days after delayed showings started.
And this week, in the nearby Westmoreland Place neighborhood, an 8,300-square-foot house at 4716 Charmian Road was listed at just under $4.3 million. Showings for that listing start Tuesday.
Margaret Wade
Both homes were listed by Long & Foster’s Margaret Wade, who said she received two offers on the Rio Vista house and expects a similar response to the Charmian listing.
“When something has been meticulously renovated for the current owner, which is (the case with) Rio Vista and Charmian, the buyers see the quality,” Wade said. “You can’t replicate the construction of how these houses were built for the same amount of money.”
The Rio Vista home has been the residence of Ronald and Linda Hochstein, who bought the house in 1999 for $650,000, city property records show. The 2.3-acre property was put in a trust for the family two years ago and is assessed by the city at $2.23 million.
Wade said the Hochsteins are downsizing after becoming empty-nesters. Ron Hochstein is an investment advisor and president of Highstone Group, a financial services firm headquartered in Windsor Farms.
The addition to 29 Rio Vista included a new kitchen with breakfast area.
Built in 1938, the two-story colonial was renovated and expanded with an addition that doubled the home’s size. The addition included a new family room and kitchen with marble countertops and a breakfast area.
The house has four bedrooms and 6½ bathrooms and includes an elevator. The owners’ suite includes a fireplace and terrace, and the property includes a saltwater pool and sunroom with bluestone floor. The linear lawn fronting the Kanawha Canal provides access for a pontoon boat or kayak.
Wade said the Rio Vista sale is scheduled to close in December.
The house at 4716 Charmian Road hit the market Tuesday.
In Westmoreland Place, the house at 4716 Charmian is being sold by Daniel and Kathryn LeBey, who have owned it since 2017. Property records show they purchased it in 2017 for $2.1 million.
Daniel is an attorney at Vinson & Elkins, a law firm with an office downtown. Kathryn has worked as an attorney and real estate agent.
Totaling six bedrooms, five bathrooms and two half-baths, the house was built in 1915 and includes a renovated primary suite with marble bath and walk-in closet. A brick-floored sunroom overlooks gardens, and the house also includes a library, rec room, bar and three-car attached garage.
The ¾-acre property is assessed by the city at $2.46 million.
4716 Charmian was built in 1915 and has been renovated.
Wade said the price tags for both homes were determined based on comparable listings and sales for other riverfront properties and renovated homes in the West End with similar-size lots. Earlier this year, two homes in the area – 5105 Stratford Crescent and 5407 Cary Street Road – hit new high marks for sales in the city at $7.5 million and $9 million, respectively.
“I agonize over pricing. I spend a lot of time on it,” Wade said. “It’s an art and a science, but there’ve been some great comps that I’ve been able to look at for larger homes with larger lots that are renovated, and in the case of Rio Vista, there were a couple of riverfront homes.
“Looking at recent comps, some off-market but mostly on-market, Richmond has been on fire with local buyers and people moving here from other places who want beautiful homes in a great location,” she said.
The two listings add to other area homes that have hit the market with multimillion-dollar price tags.
Last week, the 6,700-square-foot house at 6317 Three Chopt Road sold for just over $3 million. Wade also had that listing, while Long & Foster’s Chase Crowder represented the buyer.
Farther west in Henrico, a 6,600-square-foot house at 119 Countryside Lane was recently listed at $3.1 million. Long & Foster’s Cabell Childress has that listing.