City Directories and History: COLONEL THOMAS PINCKNEY HOUSE
Constructed circa 1829
“Ralph Izard Jr. of Broad Street acquired this site before his death. Passing into his sister’s estate, the property was sold to Col. Thomas Pinckney in 1829 with an “unfinished house.” Pinckney, whose father owned 14 George Street, completed the present T-shaped, two-and-a-half-story brick dwelling, with construction assistance from the Horlbeck Brothers, by 1829. Standing on a high basement, which is supported on the interior by groin vaulting, a stone columned front portico
projects from the tinted red brick facade. Marble lintels surmount the triple sash front windows, and there is a gable roof with a lunette window in the transom. A plat of 1829 depicts the U-shaped line of dependencies, including stables, kitchen, and slave quarters, a portion of which survives. Pinckney spent the winter social season in this house, particularly in the upstairs parlor where satin damask curtains, rosewood sofas, Wilton carpets, and double chandeliers provided a grand space for the elaborate entertaining that characterized Charleston society. He served his guests from his extensive wine cellar in the basement. Pinckney kept most of his 190 slaves on his rice lands at Fairfield Plantation on the Santee River, where he spent the fall and early spring. He summered at Altamont, his farm in South Carolina’s Pendleton district. The Pinckney family retained title to the site until 1866, when his daughter, Rosetta Ella Pinckney Izard, sold it to the Roman Catholic bishop of Charleston. It has since remained as the residence for Charleston’s bishops. The house is one of the finest examples of the Classical Revival style in the city.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
“Col. Thomas Pinckney, Jr., House. This substantial brick house was begun c. 1790 by Ralph Izard, a planter, but it remained unfinished at his death. In the division of his estate, the unfinished house was devised to a daughter, who died unmarried, whereupon the still unfinished house was sold in 1829 to Col. Pinckney who finished the house. Col. Pinckney was a son of Gen. Thomas Pinckney of 14 George St., and married Elizabeth Izard, daughter of the man who began construction of the house. The house is distinguished by its portico of four columns on an arcaded base, with curving steps on either side. The Confederate commander, Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard, had his headquarters here from the end of August 1863, to December 1863. During that time he was visited here by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In 1866, Col. Pinckney’s daughter, Rosetta Ella, who married her cousin Ralph Stead Izard, and was then a widow sold the property to the Right Rev. Patrick N. Lynch Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston. He and his successors have maintained their residence here since then.” (Smith & Smith, Dwelling Houses, 250; Sparkman, “Beauregard’s Headquarters;” Stoney, This is Charleston, 16.) – CCPL
Other sources: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61, Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917, Charleston 1861 Census Schedule, and a 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, S.C. The Hist. Charleston Foundation may also have additional data at: Past Perfect
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