Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF) was founded in 1947 to preserve and protect the integrity of architectural, historical and cultural heritage of Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The Foundation undertakes advocacy, participation in community planning, educational and volunteer programs, the preservation of properties, research, and technical and financial assistance programs. Katharine "Kitty" Robinson has served as president and CEO of the Historic Charleston Foundation since 2000.
The Col. William Rhett House is a historic, stuccoed brick two-story home at 54 Hasell St., Charleston, South Carolina. It was built in 1712 as the main house for Point Plantation later known as Rhettsbury, lying outside the walled city's limits by Col. William Rhett. The plantation was later folded into the historic Ansonborough neighborhood.
The Charles Drayton House is a historic Victorian home at 25 East Battery, Charleston, South Carolina. It was completed in 1886 for Charles H. Drayton (1847-1915), having been designed by W.B.W. Howe.
The Capt. John Morrison House is a historic home at 125 Tradd St., Charleston, South Carolina. Capt. John Morrison (1766-1821) bought the property on May 1, 1800, but he did not first appear in a city directory until 1806. The sales price paid by Capt. Morrison does not definitely reflect the purchase of a pre-existing house; as a result, the house of often claimed to have been built in 1805. In the 1840s, piazzas were added to the house. The house is a traditional Charleston single house, a form typified by a central entry and stair hall with the central door on the "side" of the house and one room on each side. Because of the unusual width of the house, 125 Tradd St. is four-bays wide with an unusually deep entrance hall and rectangular rooms on each side.
The Albert Sottile House is a Victorian house at 11 College St., Charleston, South Carolina. The house was built by Samuel Wilson in 1890, a prominent merchant and banker. The architect of the house was S.W. Foulk of Richmond, Virginia.
The Samuel Wainwright House is a three-and-a-half story, pre-Revolutionary, Georgian Charleston single house at 94 Tradd St., Charleston, South Carolina. The house has tall windows on the first two floors with smaller windows on the third and dormers on the roof. The house has quoined corners and a modillioned cornice.
The Joseph Floyd Manor is a retirement home in the upper peninsula area of Charleston, South Carolina. The building is located at the northwest corner of Mt. Pleasant St. and King St. The 12-story building was originally known as the Darlington Apartments and was designed by William G. Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff of Columbia, South Carolina. The apartments cost $1,626,000 when it was built, starting in 1950. The ground floor was supposed to have space for commercial spaces, and the second floor was to have professional offices such as lawyers or doctors along with 156 apartments. Rent for an apartment ranged from $75 per month for a one-bedroom efficiency to $175 a month for one of three three-bedroom penthouse apartments. The property had been bought by Mr. Leonard D. Long in 1933 when it housed a tent community and there were only two nearby houses. Immediately before the construction began in January 1950, the site was home to a World War II-era nightclub known as the Windmill which was being used as a grocery store. The apartments were meant to cater to single men and women and retirees.
The Albert W. Todd House is a historic house at 41 Church St., Charleston, South Carolina. It was built in November 1909 by architect Albert Wheeler Todd for his own family's residence. At the time, Todd was living nearby at 50 Church St., and he was attracted to the lot. Local lore says that he built his house on a dare, challenging the proposition that a house could not be built on a lot 150 feet deep but only 25 feet wide. Although the odd location of the garage entry on the ground floor through the base of the chimney is cited as proof of the tale, Todd's widow denied ever having heard of such a dare. The house is an early example of stucco over wood construction in Charleston.
The Patrick O'Donnell House is the largest example of Italianate architecture in Charleston, South Carolina. It was built for Patrick O'Donnell (1806-1882), perhaps in 1856 or 1857. Other research has suggested a construction date of 1865. Local lore has it that the three-and-a-half-story house was built for his would-be bride who later refused to marry him, giving rise to the house's popular name, "O'Donnell's Folly." Between 1907 and 1937, it was home to Josephine Pinckney; both the Charleston Poetry Society and the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals were formed at the house during her ownership.
The John McKee House is a c. 1796 house at 44 King St., Charleston, South Carolina. The house follows a traditional Charleston single house layout with a small stair hall separating two main rooms per floor, one toward the street and one toward the rear of the property. The brickwork suggests that a door originally entered the house from King St., but it was replaced with a window at some point. Its first known owner was John McKee who died without heirs, leaving the house to the Methodist Episcopal Church. When the church divided in 1845, the house became the joint property of three black churches: Centenary, Wesley, and Old Bethel. The Methodist Episcopal Church rented the property out until 1915. In 1929, Mrs. Victor Morawetz of Fenwick Hall, Johns Island, bought the house.
The James Simmons House is a late 18th-century house at 37 Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina which was, at one time, the most expensive house sold in Charleston. It was likely built for James Simmons, a lawyer. By 1782, it was home to Robert Gibbes, a planter. Louisa Cheves, a prominent antebellum writer, was born at the house on December 3, 1810. In 1840, Otis Mills, the owner of the Mills House Hotel, bought the house for $9,000. In October 1862, during the Civil War, the house was loaned to Gen. Pierre Beauregard, who used the house as his headquarters until August 1863. In 1876, Michael P. O'Connor, later a member of Congress, bought the house.
The Richard Brenan House is an early 19th-century house at 207 Calhoun St., Charleston, South Carolina. The house was built for Richard Brenan, a merchant, in 1817 and originally included the adjacent land to the west. The house is a three-story Charleston single house with quoins and fine cornice. The house was a two-story piazza on the west side.
The Rev. Robert Smith House is a pre-Revolutionary house at 6 Glebe St., Charleston, South Carolina which is used as the official residence for the president of the College of Charleston. The present use is an odd twist of history; Rev. Robert Smith, whose name has been given to the house, was the first Episcopal bishop of South Carolina and was also himself the first president of the College of Charleston.
The Calhoun Mansion is a Victorian house at 16 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina. The mansion is open for public tours.
The William Ravenel House was built in 1845 by shipping merchant William Ravenel. The drawing room runs the entire width of the house and is perhaps the largest drawing room in Charleston. The house suffered severe damage in the 1886 Charleston earthquake; its giant order Tower of the Winds portico was destroyed, leaving only the base. One of the capitals from the columns was unearthed 73 years later when Hurricane Gracie felled a tree which had grown atop the capital where it had fallen and been imbedded in the soft soil. The drawing room of the house spans the width of the house and has been described as the largest room in Charleston.
The Confederate Home is a retirement home located in an early 19th-century building at 60 Broad St., Charleston, South Carolina. The building started as a double tenement in about 1800, built for master builder Gilbert Chalmers. From 1834 to 1867, it was operated as the Carolina Hotel by Angus Stewart. In 1867, sisters Mary Amarinthia Snowden and Isabell S. Snowden established the Home for the Mothers, Widows, and Daughters of Confederate Soldiers and operated their housing program at the house. The Confederate Home bought the property outright in May 1874. Two stores operated on Broad Street, with the educational and residential facilities behind.
The James Ferguson House at 442 King St., Charleston, South Carolina, is an antebellum house dating to at least 1840 that is being used as a restaurant.
The Chazal House is a Greek Revival house at 66 Anson St., Charleston, South Carolina in the historic Ansonborough neighborhood.
Cabbage Row is a set of pre-Revolutionary buildings at 89 and 91 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The buildings are most notable for having been the inspiration for "Catfish Row" in the DuBose Heyward novel Porgy and later the opera Porgy and Bess by Gershwin. DuBose Heyward had lived nearby on Church Street.
The Daniel Legare House is the oldest surviving house in the historic Ansonborough area of Charleston, South Carolina. The land upon which the house was built was sold to Daniel Crawford in May 1745 for a price that was much lower than expected for a house at the time, thereby suggesting a construction date after that time.
