City Directories and History: The William Blacklock House, ca. 1800, is an excellent example of the Adam style. The house has a double door entryway placed in a frame of intricately designed sidelights and topped by one of the city’s handsomest fanlights (elliptical). The door is set in a wide brick arch that is flanked by narrower window arches to either side. The house is a massive, three-story brick building with a hipped roof, and is set back from the sidewalk just the width of the matched double stairs with wrought iron railing that rise over the first floor entry. Two marble columns support the platform to which the stairs ascend. The basement door is concealed under the double stairs by a pair of columns in a Palladian spacing. Marble keystones have been inserted in between the red brick headers which form arches above the windows of the façade. The house has an unusually large lot and is one of the largest residences in the city. Overlooking the rear garden are two outbuildings with Gothic windows. William Blacklock, the builder and owner, was a member of the Branch Bank of the U.S. in Charleston. Listed in the National Register November 7, 1973; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
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WILLIAM BLACKLOCK HOUSE Constructed 1800; restored 1973
“Completed in 1800 for one of Charleston’s wealthy British merchants, the William Blacklock House represents a sub-urban retreat from the bustle of Charleston’s mercantile district. Previously Blacklock had been in partnership with the Scots merchant Adam Tunno in one of the largest import-export businesses on East Bay Street. In plan the house resembles Charleston’s Georgian period double-pile houses, such as the Miles Brewton House (1769) and the William Gibbes House (1772), but the exterior and interior details are strictly Neoclassical. Blacklock’s back buildings were designed in the Gothic taste. Blacklock’s estate inventory of its room usage and early contents, taken on May 14, 1816, provides one of the most thorough descriptions of a Neoclassical period town house. The first floor consisted of the dining room, the parlor, a back bed chamber, and a servants’ room in the northeast corner, located closest to the back buildings. The second floor contained the drawing room, two additional bed chambers, and a nursery.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
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 or The Charleston City Guide of 1872
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Preservation Art at Work: Courtesy of Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art: Rick Rhodes – photographer, Ronald Ramsey artist – preservationist, 2017. (For the last several decades, native Charlestonian Ronald Wayne Ramsey has focused on meticulously documenting historical buildings—particularly those slated for demolition—in his hometown. As old buildings in the historically-minded city become condemned and readied for demolition, he secrets himself inside and liberates various seemingly mundane objects from their impending destruction. Such objects, like hinges, shutter dogs, decorative ironwork, doorknobs, and other ubiquitous building artifacts gain new relevance once they become part of his salvaged collection, which traces architectural styles from Charleston’s rich architectural legacy. Along with these objects, Ramsey creates fastidiously detailed drawings of old building facades in the city. Text from the Ahead of the Wrecking Ball Exhibit – 2017)
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IMAGE GALLERY courtesy of the Library of Congress – HABS Collection