Branch House in Richmond, Virginia, was designed in 1916 by the firm of John Russell Pope as a private residence of financier John Kerr Branch (1865–1930) and his wife Beulah Gould Branch (1860–1952). The house lies within Richmond's Monument Avenue Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967. Branch House itself was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The district's status was extended in 1989 and subsequently upgraded to a National Historic Landmark in 1997. After a Branch family heir gifted the home to a local charity in the 1950s, the house changed ownership several times until it was purchased in 2003 by the Virginia Architecture Foundation (formerly the Virginia Center for Architecture Foundation) and reopened in 2005 as headquarters of its successor, the Virginia Center for Architecture (VCA), offices for the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects (VSAIA) and its publication, Inform magazine. The building also houses the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Historical significance After designing Branch House, the firm of John Russell Pope (1874–1937) became widely known for designing the National Archives and Records Administration building (1935), the Jefferson Memorial (1943) and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art (1941) in Washington, DC. Pope's partner, Otto R. Eggers (1882–1964), completed those commissions after Pope's death in 1937, and subsequently designed prominent projects including the interior of the (1952) and the Morehead Planetarium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Branch House was thus elevated to the National Register because it was designed by one of the country's prominent architectural firms during the early 20th century; because it is the only example of the firm's domestic work in Virginia; and because it is the only example of the firm's Tudor-Jacobean Revival residences in which the interiors have survived intact. In addition, the house is located within a historic district of cultural significance and is the largest house in the city of Richmond. Branch House accurately reflects a particular period of American history, in the early decades of the twentieth century, when English architectural styles were fashionable among wealthy industrialists and financiers. The client was also scion to a distinguished Virginia family and had assembled a substantial collection of Renaissance artifacts. Design After receiving the gift of half a city block from his father, John Kerr and Beulah Branch commissioned the firm