City Directories and History: The relatively modern house at 5 Sutherland Ct. was built on the northern half of Lot D and its neighboring parcel, Lot E, and of the Sheppard Tract in 1942.
John Sheppard began selling lots along his newly platted, eponymous court in the late 1880s. After intervening owners, on December 13, 1900, Aaron Small bought three lots, C, D, and E, along the court for $450, but he lost part of his holdings because of a debt he could not pay. He was forced to sell his property to his creditor, Matha Chisolm, in satisfaction of the $317 debt on April 22, 1903. She, in turn, sold the three lots to Lottie Harvey (nee Berry) on May 4, 1903 for $375.
It seems that Harvey was responsible for building at least one Charleston single house on the property. For the first time, during her ownership, city directories reflected residents along the street in a house referred to as 5 Sutherland Ct.; in 1912, laborer Henry and Dora Dunmore lived at 5 Sutherland Ct. Because of very inconsistent house numbering and poor coverage of the northern portion of the city in directories, the use of the street number is not completely reliable, and it cannot be certain which families occupied the house during Harvey’s ownership.
Harvey eventually sold her lots to Maier Triest on March 13, 1937, for $1260. He conveyed the three lots as well as many other pieces of real estate to his wife, Miriam, on December 31, 1941. It is not certain when the original single house was demolished, but it was likely removed by Triest, a businessman who was involved in real estate in downtown Charleston, with an eye to redeveloping the property.
Regardless, the present house at 5 Sutherland Ct. first appeared
reliably in a city directory in 1942 as the home of Industrial Life and Health Insurance Co. insurance agent Robert C. Averson and his wife, Lillian C. Averson. They remained until at least 1944-1945.
Miriam Triest sold Lot E and the northern half of Lot D (the current lot) to Robert C. Aveson for $3750 on December 11, 1944. On January 12, 1945, Aveson sold the house to Charles N. and William A. Jessen for $1300 and the assumption of a mortgage with a balance of $3200. By 1948 through at least 1958, it was home to William A. and Nan B. Jessen. Mr. Jessen ran a liquor store at 602 Rutledge Ave. Charles Jessen conveyed his interest to William Jessen for $2000 on February 1, 1950. When William Jessen died on February 5, 1959, he left the house to his wife, Nan B. Jessen, for her life and then to his daughter Margaret J. Fenn.
Together, Nan and Margaret sold the house to Geer Drug Co. employee and later Westvaco employee Levi Lingard, Sr. and Carol Young Lingard for $16,500 on June 17, 1977.
The house was originally a wooden structure. At some point after the Jessens sold the house, the front facade and the lower section of the other elevations was clad in brick. Also, the front porch was extended towards the street, and a window was added to the front gable. The original porch features a rounded arch and simple details reminiscent of the post-War Colonial style. Like the rest of the neighborhood, the style of the house broke with the local building traditions of Charleston; instead, the house reflects a style of nationally popular American architecture without any particular connection to the historical trends of Charleston. It is one of the last houses built in what might be described as the original build-out of the neighborhood.
Information written and submitted to R&R by Kevin R. Eberle – 2015
Also see the National Register District data on Hampton Park Terrance
Other sources of interest: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61, and the Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917. The HCF may also have additional data at: Past Perfect and further research can be uncovered at: Charleston 1861 Census Schedule
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