Rainbow Row is the name for a series of thirteen colorful historic houses in Charleston, South Carolina. The houses are located north of Tradd St. and south of Elliott St. on East Bay Street, that is, 79 to 107 East Bay Street. The name Rainbow Row was coined after the pastel colors they were painted as they were restored in the 1930s and 1940s. It is a popular tourist attraction and is one of the most photographed parts of Charleston.
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 historic places, research, and technical and financial assistance programs for the preservation of historic properties. Winslow Hastie has been the President & CEO of Historic Charleston Foundation since 2018.
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 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 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 Williams Mansion is a Victorian house at 16 Meeting St., Charleston, South Carolina. The mansion is open for public tours.
The William Ravenel House is an historic house in Charleston, South Carolina.
Vanderhorst Row in Charleston, South Carolina is a three-unit residential building built in 1800 by Arnoldus Vanderhorst, a governor of South Carolina (1792-1794). Each unit is four floors. The units at the north and south end of the range have doors along East Bay Street on the front in addition to doors on the sides of the unified building and exits to the rear. After the Civil War, the use of the building changed, and commercial purposes were installed. The building fell into disrepair before it was bought in 1935 by Josiah E. Smith for a restoration which cost $30,000. The architect for the restoration of the building was Stephen Thomas. The three units rented for $1500 to $1800 a year after the work was completed. As restored, each unit had a living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, and pantry on the first floor; a drawing room, bedroom, and bath on the second; two more bedrooms on the third; and servants' rooms in the attic. For many years after the restoration of the building, the central unit was rented by the Charleston Club for its headquarters; the club relocated to 53 East Bay Street in 1958.
The Thomas Elfe house is a property located in the French Quarter at 54 Queen Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It was at one time owned by the well known colonial period furniture craftsman Thomas Elfe, whence its name. It is a colonial Georgian style house and a perfectly scaled miniature of a Charleston single house. The eighteenth century house has been completely restored. It is now referred to as the Thomas Elfe Workshop.
The Augustus Taft House is a Greek Revival house at 57 Laurens St., Charleston, South Carolina in the historic Ansonborough neighborhood.
The John Ashe House is an 18th-century house at 32 South Battery, Charleston, South Carolina. The house's date of construction is unknown, but it was built sometime around 1782 and renovated in the 1930s. In August 2015, it replaced the James Simmons House as the most expensive house sold in Charleston when it fetched about $7.72 million.
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The George Eveleigh House is a pre-Revolutionary house in Charleston, South Carolina. The house was built about 1743 for trader George Eveleigh. Eventually, Eveleigh returned to England and sold his house to John Bull in 1759. John Bull or one of his heirs subsequently built the house at 34 Meeting Street on the rear of the property; the parcel had originally run from Church Street through the block to Meeting Street on the west. The house retains much of its original cypress woodwork although many of the fireplace mantels were replaced in the Adam period.
The Robert Pringle House is a historic house in Charleston, South Carolina.
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 William Vanderhorst House was used as the first post office in Charleston, South Carolina before 1753. Eleazer Philips was the first postmaster of Charleston to have a dedicated office for the handling of the mail, and he used 54 Tradd Street for that purpose. Earlier postmasters handled the mail in their own houses. The house was used as a post office until after 1791 when Peter Bacot relocated the operation to 84 Broad Street.
The John Fullerton House is a historic building on Legare Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The house was designed and built by Scottish master builder John Fullerton some time after he bought the land on December 31, 1772, and before he resold it at a much higher cost in 1777. Among the notable features of the house are the highly decorative window casings on the first and second floor; the console brackets and hoods reflect a high style that can be found on other notable houses of the same period in Charleston. The house is built of cypress.
The Daniel Elliott Huger House was the last home of a Royal governor in South Carolina.
The Grimke-Fraser Tenements were built in about 1762 on land that Frederic Grimke purchased in 1747. The thick brick wall that divides the house into two halves and which projects through the roof is evidence of the house's early use as a rental property made of two side-by-side units.
The John Edwards House in Charleston, South Carolina was built in 1770 by Colonial patriot John Edwards. During the Revolutionary War, half of the house was used by British admiral Mariot Arbuthnot as his headquarters, while the Edwards family was allowed to remain in the other half.
