“One of America’s finest pieces of historic architecture.”
3380 Ashley River Road
City Directories and History: Enjoy added information on this National Register property and at Drayton Hall.
Drayton Hall is without question one of the finest of all surviving plantation houses in America. Its early date, 1738-42, makes its architectural sophistication all the more remarkable. It is far in advance of the great Virginia Georgian plantation houses for which those of South Carolina have a natural affinity. Because Drayton Hall has been barely touched with “improvement” in the ensuing 200 years, it remains for us one of the most treasured of eighteenth century structures. John Drayton, a member of the King’s Council, acquired the land on which Drayton Hall was built in 1738. Perhaps because of their relatively comfortable position in South Carolina society at this early date, the Drayton’s were able to
Image courtesy of: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. Collection of images and prints of Charleston, S.C.
Image courtesy of: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. Collection of images and prints of Charleston, S.C.
Image courtesy of: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. Collection of images and prints of Charleston, S.C.
invest in the house a degree of architectural elaboration very rare in America in the first half of the eighteenth century. The house has a most distinctive monumentality achieved through its spacious four room plan and the somewhat vertical proportions of its two-story elevation on a high English basement capped by a double hipped roof. The land side (west) of the house features a carefully proportioned projecting two-story pedimented portico with superposed Doric and Ionic orders. The river façade lacks a projecting portico, but it has a classical central pediment to emphasize the main axis. Most of the rooms on the inside are fully paneled and the mantel pieces and classical cornices throughout are the highest quality. The house further features rich plaster detailing in the ceilings, and a remarkable fully paneled richly carved double staircase. Listed in the National Register October 15, 1966; Designated a National Historic Landmark October 9, 1960. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
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IMAGE GALLERY via photographer Bill Segars – 2008
Drayton Hall – Privy Schematics: Photo contributed to R&R by Gazie Nagle @ www.fineartbygazie.com
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