A 7,105-square-foot Queen Anne mansion at 801 Stockley Gardens in Norfolk's North Ghent Historic District is under contract with a buyer, according to the sellers' real estate agent, just weeks after it hit the market for $1.195 million. The three-story home, built in 1915 at the corner of Raleigh Avenue, drew more than 100 visitors to an open house in late September before a deal came together.
Sellers Patrick and Chelsea Pettitt bought the property for $1 million in March 2023 but never actually moved in, according to The Virginian-Pilot. They listed it September 17 at $1.195 million. Ford Cook, the Pettitts' agent with Keller Williams, told the paper the couple had grand plans and architectural drawings for the home, but those plans never came to fruition. Cook said the house needs a lot of work and has huge potential, adding that the right buyer should be wealthy enough to afford and care for the property and should have a compelling reason to purchase it.
Listing details reviewed by Realtor.com show the property spans three separate parcels totaling approximately 0.47 acres, and it is being sold strictly as-is. The interior retains original pocket doors, leaded glass, and custom plasterwork, on top of the decorative woodwork, stained glass, and a Juliet balcony off the primary bedroom described in the Pilot's report. A private driveway leads to a two-car garage that also serves as a carriage house.
A Grocery Fortune Behind the Blueprints
The home traces its design back to Henry Henke, a wealthy German immigrant to New Orleans who launched the Henke & Pillot supermarket chain in Houston in 1872, per the Pilot's reporting. Henke & Pillot employed 245 people during his tenure and posted annual sales approaching $5 million in 1922 dollars. Kroger acquired the chain in May 1955; in 1956, it operated 27 stores. The Henke & Pillot name was retired in 1966, according to Wikipedia.
Henke and his wife, Catherine, had two daughters, Eleanor and Leona — the inspiration for the home's original name, Ellona, combining the two names. Eleanor married Dr. Readding Lloyd Williams, a Norfolk physician who also served as city coroner, a World War I major, and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. According to the Pilot, the Henkes moved to Norfolk around 1907 to be closer to Eleanor after she developed kidney disease, and the home's foundation sat unfinished for five years before Dr. Williams took over the project and saw it through to completion.
Original Features Still Intact More Than a Century Later
When it was completed, the mansion included an elevator and cooling system. The home still maintains an elevator today. The house has seven bedrooms, 4.5 baths, four fireplaces, a full basement, and ceiling heights of 12, 11, and 9 feet on the first, second, and third floors, respectively.
The home sits within the North Ghent Historic District, which encompasses 322 contributing historic structures and was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1999 before earning a spot on the National Register of Historic Places on July 11, 2001, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The district developed primarily between 1897 and 1912 as a northward extension of Ghent. In Norfolk's locally designated historic districts, the Architectural Review Board reviews exterior alterations and some demolition; approved projects receive a Certificate of Appropriateness, according to the City of Norfolk.
Nearly Sixty Years in One Family
Before the Pettitts, Reon Glessner Hillegass Jr. and Jean Hillegass bought the mansion for $32,500 in 1963 and raised their seven children there, according to the Pilot. Their son, Sean Hillegass, who grew up in the house, said the mansion was simply his regular home growing up. Reon Hillegass Jr. founded Hillegass Lighting in Chesapeake.
A Park Setting Built From a Filled Creek
Stockley Gardens Park, a public park created over a filled stream, sits directly in front of the home.
