What is this place? Jepson Alumni Center and Bottomley House

Most University of Richmond students know that the Jepson Alumni Center exists, but what many students don’t know is that it houses a bed-and-breakfast. The Bottomley House has five bedrooms, each with a private bath, and offers accommodation to Richmond alumni, university guests and visitors attending events at the Alumni Center. Alumni, staff and faculty may also reserve rooms for friends and family, and parents of students enrolled at the university may reserve rooms as well.

The Bottomley House was the first house in the Richmond area designed by the architect William Lawrence Bottomley. The house was built in 1915 on the other side of River Road. It was donated to the university and moved to its current location in 1996.

The Jepson Alumni center was built around the Bottomley House and opened in fall 1997.

Rick Glass, the assistant director of events, conferences and support services at the Jepson Alumni Center said he loved the history, charm and architectural detail throughout the entire Bottomley House. “That’s kind of what drew me to the job and the university, because I started when the building opened,” Glass said.

Alexander Myers is a law student at Richmond and lives at the Bottomley House working as a Resident Concierge. “That job entails managing the house from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. every day that there are guests in the house,” Myers said. “I’m also in charge of checking in any late arrivals that arrive before midnight.”

Myers enjoys living at the Bottomley House as it is a beautiful building and convenient to live on campus, he said. “The best part about working here is I get to meet a lot of interesting people who are staying at the house before speaking on campus,” Myers said.

Glass said the Jepson Alumni Center functioned as three things: a bed-and-breakfast, a conference center and the Office of Alumni and Career Services. Glass enjoys that each day at his job is different as there are different activities and clients, he said.

Glass said all kinds of groups booked the meeting spaces in the Jepson Alumni Center, “from corporate to nonprofit to associations to all kinds of government groups and that’s in addition to the university’s events that take place.” About 70 percent of business is university events and about 30 percent are off campus groups who pay rental, he said. Glass said some of the groups they had had recently were the Virginia Council of CEOs and the Virginia ABC Board.

For more information about the Jepson Alumni Center please visit http://events.richmond.edu/jepson-alumni-center/index.html and to make reservations at the Bottomley House call (804) 289-8989 or email bhreservations@richmond.edu.

Contact reporter Bridget Friendly at bridget.friendly@richmond.edu