City Directories and History: The images on this page are confusing in that the Colvin farm which is standing today, has only three front bays, but also has double doors. The images here have been confused by institutions and numerous individuals. R&R would appreciate any assistance in determining the accurate history of the Colvin – Castle farm pictures which feature five bays and are in black and white. Records state the house is the same but obviously this is incorrect, but they appear likely to have been on neighboring farms.
(Nicholas Colvin House; Durham House) Composed of one of Chester County’s most intact vernacular farmhouses with transitional Federal and early Greek Revival detailing, as well as a variety of outbuildings, the Colvin-Fant-Durham Farm Complex is an outstanding example of a nineteenth and early twentieth century farmstead. The period of significance, ca. 1835 to ca. 1940, represents the continued operation of this farm by Nicholas Colvin, Jr., and his direct descendants, and is embodied by the residence and extant outbuildings. The ca. 1835 vernacular hall and parlor plan farmhouse with its transitional upcountry Carolina “I” House design and
early Greek Revival detailing, it is a remarkably well-crafted example of vernacular domestic architecture from the period. The house consists of a two-story, frame main block and a one-story, frame dining room and kitchen ell, which was added in the late nineteenth century. The main block is two rooms deep and three bays wide, with a composition shingle (over original wood shingles), lateral gable roof that breaks over the rear first and second story rooms in a shallow pitched, cat-slide configuration. A one-story engaged shed-roofed porch on the façade shelters two doorways. The house rests on a stone-pier foundation. The property also includes a smokehouse, well house/power house, mule barn, tenant house, and a log cottonseed house. Listed in the National Register July 30, 1992.
The transom and sidelights of this home are triangular in shape. This form was popular by a builder in the southern sections of Chester County where at least three examples of this style remain in 2013. It is highly likely that each of the three antebellum dwellings were constructed by the same artisan-contractor who had knowledge of and access to this decorative element.
Historian Harvey S. Teal’s Post Office Data in S.C., states: “The Halsellville Post Office was run by first Postmaster, Mr. William Halsell. It operated from ca. 1828 – thru the Civil War.”
Informative links and photographs: Greek Revival Architecture, National Register
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