Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 14, 1993 TAG: 9312140063
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A photograph taken there by Civil War chronicler Mathew Brady is among the most famous images of the Southern hero - pensive and drawn, Lee stands alone on the porch.
More recently, the spot where Lee posed, perhaps reflecting on the failed Confederate campaign, has been the site of other maneuvers.
Traveller's Restaurant, named for Lee's battlefield horse, became Richmond's premiere power eatery in the booming 1980s, a dark place where politicians and moguls hunkered over thick steaks.
Brass name plates on the bar marked the regulars' places.
But now leaves and trash are piled outside, and a weathered sign is tacked on the door: "Traveller's will be closed for emergency repairs."
No repairs are going on. The phones are turned off, the door locked, and former patrons say the restaurant won't reopen. It was behind in its taxes and hasn't paid rent for several months, said John Zehmer, director of a preservation group that owns the building.
"They have been in and out of financial troubles all along," he said.
The manager, Bruce Forepaugh, has no listed telephone number in Richmond. He faces a preliminary hearing in Richmond General District Court this month on two felony embezzlement charges linked to his failure to pay $8,344 in city food taxes.
Traveller's Corp. faces three misdemeanor charges of failing to obtain business licenses and pay license fees.
The restaurant, expensive by Richmond's standards, was a favorite haunt for politicians during the two-month legislative sessions.
It also was used by politicians and business people throughout the year for receptions and dinners.
"It was a guy hangout, a real red-meat place," said Sue Robinson, editor of Style Weekly, a Richmond tabloid.
"It was elegant, some might call it highbrow," said Charlie Davis, a Republican political consultant and Traveller's patron. "You went into that courtyard, and it was like you were on an estate somewhere."
The restaurant's management hoped the combination of Civil War nostalgia and upscale food could survive an economic downturn that saw both homegrown Richmond department stores close, along with dozens of smaller businesses nearby.
"They were hurting, just like everyone. Nobody wants to spend $40 for a steak when they're not sure if they'll have a paycheck coming along next week," said a Republican lobbyist and former Traveller's patron who asked that his name not be used.
But even in a city preoccupied with its Civil War past, the Lee connection apparently wasn't enough.
Traveller himself probably was stabled in the back yard, "but we can't prove it," Zehmer said. Lee lived there for a few months in 1865 before moving to the countryside outside Richmond and eventually to Lexington.
The house is the only remaining example of the row houses common in Lee's era. The building was saved because of the Lee connection; other old buildings were razed to make way for office towers.
"It's very important as a landmark, even though Lee lived in several different places," said John Coski, a historian at Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy.
"The sentimental value of the house, because of the photos taken of Lee and his staff there, is enormous," Coski said. "That spot is still there, inside the restaurant, and it gives a flavor of Lee's presence."
The building houses offices above the restaurant, and Zehmer said other tenants won't be hard to find. The house will not become a museum, he said. New tenants probably won't include a restaurant.
"In the old Richmond crowd, you invoke the name Robert E. Lee and people start salivating and tearing up," another lobbyist and sometime Traveller's patron said. "But when people want to party, all they're looking for is a nice atmosphere. All that other stuff is yesterday - and hey, he lost the war."
by CNB