Larchmont and Edgewater are residential neighborhoods on the west side of Norfolk sharing the 23508 Zip Code. The neighborhoods contain more than 2,300 homes, most of them occupied by single-family owners. Many homes were built in the early 20th century in styles ranging from palatial estates to modest bungalows. The dominant style of homes is Colonial Revival, but the neighborhood also features grand Victorian homes as well as Craftsman bungalows and new construction. To find out about homes for sale now and what property has sold for recently click here.

Participating neighborhoods are bordered by 49th Street, the Lafayette River to the east and north, the Elizabeth River to the west and Old Dominion University and 52nd Street to the south. The neighborhood is bisected by Hampton Boulevard. Other major streets include Jamestown Crescent, Powhatan Avenue and Bolling Avenue.

Although it is almost totally a residential neighborhood, there are several nonresidential anchors in the neighborhood that make it special. The neighborhood's southern edge is bordered by Old Dominion University (www.odu.edu), one of the largest universities in Virginia, and WHRO (www.whro.org), the region's public radio and television station. ODU is in the midst of a major expansion program just a few blocks past the neighborhood's border. In the past decade ODU has rapidly expanding adding the Ted Constant Convocation Center, classrooms, an indoor tennis center, apartments, dormitories and retail space. 

Old Dominion University

WHRO

Adjacent to WHRO is Larchmont Elementary School with its kindergarten through fifth grade program. Larchmont Elementary (www.nps.k12.va.us/schools/larchmont) is consistently one of Norfolk Public School's highest-achieving elementary schools and has served students for generations. The school grounds include fields where youth soccer, baseball and football teams practice as well as two playgrounds, six lighted tennis courts and outdoor basketball courts. Its gym is home base for the city-run Larchmont Recreation Center. The Larchmont Elementary PTA traditionally sponsors two popular community events - the September R.A.T. Race, a 5-kilometer and 1-mile run and family walk, and an April spring carnival. Just down the street is Saint Patrick Catholic School, which opened in 2006 as the first new Catholic school in Norfolk to open in the past 50 years. It serves pre-kindergarten students through those in eighth grade.

Larchmont Elementary School

Near the northern boundaries of the neighborhood are D'Egg West, a restaurant that opened in January 2010, and Taste Unlimited, a gourmet food store and cafe, scheduled to open in August 2010. The building that houses E'Egg is also home to Dickenson & Dickenson law firm and J. Patrick Baker, a dentist.

Across Hampton Boulevard from the stores is the Larchmont branch of Norfolk Public Library (www.npl.lib.va.us). The busy library branch, which includes computers, a meeting room and children's area is housed on a site that formerly was a power station used for street cars. Adjacent to it is the Birdsong Wetlands, which volunteers created several years ago as a small park that helps filter water before it enters the rivers. Across the street is the Lafayette River Complex, a small Navy installation housed in a collection of older buildings along the Lafayette River.

Larchmont Public Library

The Birdsong Wetlands

The neighborhood includes two churches - Larchmont United Methodist Church on Jamestown Crescent (www.larchmontumc.org/index.shtml) and Larchmont Baptist Church (www.norbaptist.com/LARCHMONT.htm), just down the road on Surrey Crescent. Both churches include special programs for children of all denominations. Larchmont Methodist is home to Larchmont United Methodist Preschool for children ages 2 through 5. Larchmont Baptist is home to Larchmont Baptist Infant Care Center for infants through preschool.

Larchmont Methodist Church

Larchmont Baptist Church

The Larchmont-Edgewater neighborhoods are home to 5,694 people, according to 2000 U.S. census data. The neighborhoods are divided into two census tracts that are divided by Hampton Boulevard. The largest tract to the west of Hampton Boulevard that includes all of Edgewater and part of Larchmont has 3,247 people living in 1,272 homes, most of them occupied by single families. The median age is 36.2. The census tract to the east of Hampton Boulevard that is in the Larchmont neighborhood has 2,342 people living in 1,032 households, including a group of older apartments that are slated for demolition. The media age of residents is 31.1.

Students living in the neighborhood attending public school are assigned to Larchmont Elementary, a neighborhood school. Later they can attend Blair Middle School and Maury High School, about two miles away in the Ghent neighborhood, or opt for one of the public school system's specialized middle or high schools.

Larchmont-Edgewater is home to Norfolk's Mayor Paul D. Fraim and city council member Dr. Teresa Whibley. In the Virginia General Assembly the neighborhood is represented by Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, Del. Johnny S. Joannou and Del. Kenneth Melvin. The neighborhood's U.S. Representative is Glenn Nye.