City Directories and History: LOPEZ HOUSE “Open Gothic Revival columns.”
Constructed circa 1852
“A member of one of Charleston’s leading Sephardic Jewish families built this unusual dwelling as a rental property by 1852. Rented in 1861 to the Frenchman Napoleon L. Coste, the house was owned by the Lopez family for several decades. The dwelling is constructed in the side-hall plan, and the
front facade is constructed with board and batten cladding, fronted by a double-tiered piazza with open-work wood columns. All of these characteristics are hallmarks of the Carpenter Gothic style.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
*** According to the owner, April – 2015, the house originally faced Colonial Lake and was move to the rear of the lot and turned sideways, a new porch added, allowing for the current Neoclassical Revival home at #40 Rutledge Ave., to be constructed – 1900. The open Gothic Revival columns are rarely seen. The only other known dwellings in S.C., to have them from the 1850s are in the Rock Hill, S.C., the Historic White Home and later 19th century Folk Victorians of a later era. (Please share your knowledge of others from this period if you are aware of them at; info@rootsandrecall.com)
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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