T
he 1916‑built house at 402 Old Locke Lane, home to the Emrochs since 1989, closed the September sales ledger when it sold for $6.3 million. The transaction, handled off‑market by Betsy Dotterer of The Steele Group | Sotheby’s International Realty, ranks as the month’s highest deal and the second‑largest in the Richmond metro this year.
A week earlier, the Emrochs moved to a slightly smaller French‑Provincial home at 4 Paxton Road, which fetched $2.9 million—September’s third‑largest sale. Maria Brent of the Steele Group represented the buyers, while Debbie Gibbs handled the seller, a family trust for the late Morton Thalhimer Jr.
Between those two high‑profile deals was 12,676 River Road, a 25‑acre parcel in eastern Goochland County that sold on September 8 for $3.1 million in cash. Known as the Wesley Farm, the property sits just south of Collegiate School’s Pagebrook Campus and north of Historic Tuckahoe. Lee Kegley of National Land Realty listed it in March at $3.4 million; it had been on the market for the first time in over 200 years. The land, owned by Jean Wesley until her death in 2016, has been in the family since the 1700s and is adjacent to Powell’s Tavern, where Lafayette stayed in 1824.
Kegley noted that the family preferred a buyer who would preserve the homestead rather than a developer, even though the seven subdivided lots could accommodate up to eight additional homes under current zoning. The buyers, an LLC represented by Chuck Carlisle of Carlisle Real Estate, plan a long‑term hold and are not pursuing immediate construction. The property includes a 1,500‑sq‑ft, three‑bedroom, two‑bathroom house built in the 1950s, but the acreage and location are the main draws.
Other notable September sales include:
* 12,413 Bluffton Ridge Court, The Blufftons, Goochland – $1.97 million (listing: Scott Shaheen, Shaheen, Ruth, Martin & Fonville; buyer: Scott Ruth, SRMF).
* 11,904 Lerade Court, Dominion View Estates, Henrico – $1.9 million (listing: Jamie Younger, Long & Foster; buyer: non‑MLS member).
These transactions illustrate a market where historic homes, sizable rural parcels, and well‑positioned properties continue to command premium prices in the Richmond area.
