Insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which also set minimal standards for house design by private-sector developers, this subdivision was one of several intended to address a citywide housing shortage brought on by an influx of workers employed at the Radford Arsenal during World War II. Monroe Terrace is interesting for its use of such inexpensive modern materials as asbestos shingles in the construction of standardized small houses. The exteriors of the houses, which feature side-gabled roofs with minimal eave overhangs, small porches, and multipaned double-hung sash windows, are reminiscent of the vernacular Colonial Revival popularized in Virginia by the 1930s restoration of Colonial Williamsburg. The house plans feature informal, open areas rather than the space-devouring symmetry of formalized room plans.