Aiken Museum of History
City Directories and History: The Aiken County Historical Museum now occupies this site, purchased by Richard Howe to build a new home. He had the original right wing, built prior to 1860, moved and built an addition designed by architect Willis Irvin. What began as an unpretentious Victorian cottage on five acres ended with thirty-two rooms, fifteen baths and a full-sized ballroom. It is open to the public, except on Monday. (Information – Aiken Chamber of Commerce)
Banksia, built ca. 1931; large, one-and-one-half stories; brick veneer with one frame wing believed to be an older house on the property; Colonial Revival elements.; slate roof, irregular plan; several porticoes; designed by Willis Irvin.
Listed as part of the Aiken Winter Colony Historic District II, this house is significant as an intact collection of properties associated with the Aiken Winter Colony. The district includes properties constructed by winter residents and properties rented by winter residents. Also included is Willcox’s, an inn frequented by Winter Colonists and noted for its cuisine. Included in the district are properties associated with some of the Winter Colony’s most influential members.
Images courtesy of Tim McFall – 2017
Aiken Winter Colony Historic District II consists of approximately one hundred properties constructed between ca. 1880 and ca. 1930, including residences, outbuildings, stables, racquet sport facilities, and an inn. The residences range from one-story cottages to large mansions with stables and other dependencies. (NR File Data)
(NR File Data / SC Dept. of Archive and History)
Colonial Revival style was an effort to look back to the Federal and Georgian architecture of America’s founding period for design inspiration. Less commonly, the Post-Medieval English and Dutch Colonial house forms were an influence on the Colonial Revival style. This enthusiasm to explore the architecture of America’s founding period was generated in part by the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 celebrating the country’s 100th birthday. This trend was further promoted by the Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago.
Like most revival efforts, the Colonial Revival style did not generally produce true copies of earlier styles. Although, in the early years of the 20th century (1910-1935) there was a real interest in studying and duplicating Georgian period architecture. Generally, the Colonial Revival style took certain design elements – front façade symmetry, front entrance fanlights and sidelights, pedimented doorways, porches and dormers – and applied them to larger scale buildings. These colonial era details could be combined in a great variety of ways, creating many subtypes within this style. Courtesy of the Penn. Arch. Field Guide – Website
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R&R HISTORY THREAD: Architect Willis Irvin of Aiken, S.C.
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