Bishop Cho moves into new episcopal residence
New Virginia Bishop Young Jin Cho and his wife, the Rev. Kiok Cho, are moving into a brand new home northwest of Richmond off the road to Montpelier on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
The Virginia Conference, which provides a parsonage for its bishop, decided the retirement of Bishop Charlene Kammerer was the right time to build a new home for its episcopal leader. The previous episcopal residence, in a development off Lauderdale Road in the West End of Richmond, was technically in violation of the conference’s parsonage guidelines because it did not have a bedroom on the ground floor.
In building the new home, the Virginia Conference spent more than $100,000 in options to make the house more energy efficient, earning a 20 percent overall discount because of the energy-efficient upgrades. The house meets the “green” level of Star Energy Efficient certification standards.
The house is also totally handicapped accessible, with wide doors and hallways inside and a ramp at the back.
The 3,200-square-foot house in the Triple Oaks subdivision off Highway 33, Mountain Road, is about eight miles from the conference office in Glen Allen. The wooded lot on a cul de sac is about 1.5 acres, and has a circular driveway out front.
The four-bedroom house has a master suite on the ground floor, a double garage, an office for the bishop and a large great room upstairs, plus floored attic storage that could eventually be finished if another bedroom were needed.
The house financial closing took place Aug. 13, and members of the conference Committee on the Episcopacy got a walk-through tour that week by representatives of Main Street Builders.
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