Glimpses of Charleston

A local's eye view

Houses/Buildings/Gates

Built before 1739, the William Elliot House on King Street is one of Charleston's oldest single houses. Included in its interesting history is that in 1763 it served as a boarding school for young ladies. Now a private home, its beautiful gates always host some pretty flower boxes.
This little door on Lamboll Street always reminds me of an entrance to a hobbit's house.
The Villa Magherita on South Battery is one of the most recognizable Charleston houses. Fronting White Point Garden, it became a desirable hotel in the early 1900's. Owned by Daisy Simonds, she named it after herself -- as "Magherita" is Italian for daisy.
The Timothy Ford House on Meeting Street, built 1800-06, is a wonderful example of a very large Charleston single house. In 1824, the Fords entertained the Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War hero, there on his visit back to the US. 
The afternoon sun lighting up the Parker-Drayton House and gate on Gibbes Street. Before lanfill was added to create the existing profile of the peninsula, the house would have had a great view of the marshes and the Ashley River.
This handsome entrance can be on a beautiful antebellum (c. 1856) house on the corner of Rutledge Avenue at Wentworth Street -- just up the street from Colonial Lake.
Looking a bit spooky at night, the Calhoun Mansion on Meeting Street is the largest single family house on the Charleston peninsula. At over 24,000 square feet, it has about 35 rooms and 23 fireplaces.
South Carolina Society Hall was originally created to be a meeting place and a school for indigent children. Built on Meeting Street in 1803-04, it has had several modifications and renovations over the years -- a significant one took place after the Civil War, in which the building sustained damage during the bombardment of Charleston. It is said that there are still cannonballs lodged in the trusses in the attic.
https://charleston.pastperfectonline.com/archive/CE45CA31-56B4-4C60-A0BF-183147998789
The day's first rays of sun lighting up the innards of the bell tower of St. Michael's and the flag on the Federal building.  Inside the Federal building is the wonderful Postal Museum -- a one room museum chronicling the history of the postal service in Charleston.
This post-Revolutionary War house (built 1790) on Church Street boasts some beautiful cast ironwork. Cast iron is made by pouring molten iron into a mold, while wrought iron is creating by hammering hot iron into the desired shape.
Built just after the American Revolution, this colorful house on Meeting Street is the youngest of the famed Three Sisters houses. Not only is it a beautiful house, it consistently has some of the most eye-catching window boxes in the city.
...this simple dwelling was part of a much larger structure. Built in 1867 it was used as a hospital. In 1874, the hospital was split into two dwellings, and then around 1913 this one was moved a bit down the block to its current location on Lenwood Boulevard -- from the corner of Tradd where it originally was built.
Built in 1760, this house beautiful house on Meeting Street did not receive its curves until an 1840's renovation. Among its prominent residents over the years was General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, the commander of the Confederate Forces in Charleston.
A beautiful entrance to an 1840 house on Bull Street -- right across the street from 60 Bull Cafe.
This beautiful house on Limehouse Street was built by a wealthy cotton factor in 1857. It used to have a water view, as the original seawall ran in front of it.
The cornerstone for the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Broad Street was laid in 1890. The construction of the church was finally completed in 2010, when the steeple was added. The Cathedral itself was opened, however, in 1907.
This layered view of Charleston is along Tradd Street, just before the corner of King Street. Across the street is a house that was built in 2003. Before that, one of the last businesses operating South of Broad was located there -- a gas station (the Fort Sumter Filling Station) that was built in the 1930's.
A wonderfully decorated house on Orange Street. The house was built in 1769 by Charles Pinckney, who was the father of the Charles Pinckney who was a signer of the US Constitution, and also a governor of SC, a US senator and a member of the House of Representatives.
This handsome house on Bull Street, built c. 1802, was once owned by Nicholas Harleston, whose family the Harleston Village neighborhood is named.
This beautiful front door scene, complete with some cool gas lights, is on Legare Street.
This pretty cotton ball wreath hangs on a door that fronts Broad Street... just down from the intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets, where a drawbridge once stood to allow people to enter the walled city of Charles Towne.
This nicely decorated gate belong to a house that was built in 1785 on Church Street.
The Villa Margherita on South Battery always looks good, but it's really eye-catching in holiday garb. Part of this house's cool history is that it was designed by Frederick Dinkelberg, who helped design the Flatiron Building in New York.
The rear of the statue in the second floor window of this imposing house on Legare Street always catches my eye, even when the house is decorated for the holidays. I often wonder if this view is intentional.
These wreaths adorn the entry to the First Baptist Church on Church Street. The oldest baptist church in the south, First Baptist can trace its congregation's roots back to 1682... to Kittery, Maine! In 1696, the pastor and 28 congregants moved to Charleston.
This beautiful building on Broad Street, built in 1783, was once owned by James Simmons -- who, among other things, commanded the militia that launched the initial attack on Fort Sumter in 1861.
This beautifully decorated door is next to the house on Church Street in which DuBose Heyward wrote the novel "Porgy" -- which became the basis for the famous "Porgy and Bess."
The Villa Margherita on South Battery would make a pretty great holiday present. Built c. 1895 as a private residence, it was used as a hotel for 40 years during the early to mid-1900s. Notable guests include 3 US presidents, Henry Ford and Alexander Graham Bell (I wonder if he called and let Watson know where he was).
This wreath-wearing gorgeous gate can be found on Church Street, along "The Bend." If you look closely, you will see that the front door to the house is not symmetrical with the gate -- as the house was damaged by a hurricane in 1752 and the door migrated to the right in the subsequent repairs.
The Roper House on East Battery is one of the most significant Greek Revival houses in Charleston. If all had gone well, it never would have existed in that location as the land was originally intended to be part of White Point Garden at the tip of the peninsula -- but the city needed the money and sold that strip of land off for development.
This wreath festooned door can be found on a house built in 1784 on Church Street.
This good looking door belongs to the Robert Pringle House on Tradd Street, built in 1774. A Victorian bay window, facing the street, was later added to the house that distinguishes it from most large single houses of that era.
This well dressed door on East Bay Street belongs to house that was built about 1740 -- and was home to Anne Boone -- the daughter of an early Puritan refugee to Charleston, who had helped execute King Charles I.
The Calhoun Mansion, named in honor of one of its owners (who was the grandson of the 7th vice-president of the United States and married one of the original owner's daughters), is the largest single family house in Charleston -- about 24,000 square feet with over 25 rooms.
This eye-catching pink house on Tradd Street was built in 1740 -- 36 years before the American Revolution.
This beautiful house (c. 1806) on Meeting Street hosted the Marquis de Layfette in 1824.  After fighting in both the American and French Revolutions. he had become known as the Hero of Two Worlds.
This door belongs to the Nathaniel Russell House on Meeting Street. Considered one of the finest examples of Neoclassical architecture in the United States, this house is now open to the public and maintained as a museum by the Historic Charleston Foundation. It's very much worth the visit.
This condo building is relatively new and can be found along the back of Waterfront Park. It is modeled after the famous "Compromise House" on East Battery, where a young John F. Kennedy had an office while in the navy (before being shipped off to take control of PT-109).
Formerly known as the Footlight Players Theater, this space has been rebranded as the Queen Street Playhouse. Home to the oldest theater company in Charleston, the Footlight Players, before they moved in the building was a cotton warehouse.