City Directories and History: The Perry-McIlwain-McDow House, constructed ca. 1840, is significant architecturally as an excellent example of an essentially intact interpretation of a Greek Revival raised cottage with a temple-front classical portico containing a recessed porch with balustrade, in a rain porch configuration. The wood frame house is one and one-half stories with a central double-leaf entrance of raised panel doors with rectangular transom and sidelights, flanked on either side by two nine-over-nine windows with original glass and louvered shutters. Excellent craftsmanship is exhibited in exterior and interior details. The walls and ceilings are made of horsehair plaster over wood lath. Heart pine construction is exhibited in the flooring, the stairway, the raised panel doors, window and door surrounds, and in one original mantel in the house. Hand-hewn logs were used as floor joists, and were flattened on one side to accommodate nailing of the flooring. The original interior stair treads reveal that they were constructed from century old trees. Exposed timbers bear Roman numeral markings to match timbers. Good evidence of this exists in floor joists and upper level exposed beams. Three of the four solid wood columns of the portico are original. One was replaced in the late 1970s. The chimneys and foundation piers are made of soft hand-made brick, with the chimneys having been constructed on elevated foundations of field stone. The McIlwains and the McDows were among the early groups of Scots-Irish immigrants who came to the area in the mid 1700s, and, as many other early settlers, received royal land grants. McDow family members believe the home, which they always referred to as Fairview Farm, was built between 1830 and 1840 by Andrew McIlwain’s daughter Mary A. Perry. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places September 8, 2011. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
R&R NOTE: Touring Fairview Farm was an enjoyable and enlightening experience for the group from R&R. The house is in excellent condition and retains many of its original features and woodwork. Tasteful changes to the dwelling have been taken to insure a continued useful and vibrant future. Of particular interest to the group was the extensive display of circular saw details in a house that has been repeatedly dated, ca. 1840. One steam mill was documented to have been in use in Lancaster County by the M&I Census of 1850. So, it is likely the timbers for the rafters, flooring and other boards were milled at that site. However, the balance of the house is framed with timber frame hewn members and the floor joists are hew logs.
The S.C. Artisans Database, lists the R. Massey and Co., as the owner of the 1850 steam mill. Unfortunately no location is given. By 1854 Colton’s map showcases a steam mill about three miles east of Lancaster. In either case, the Massey family lived very close to the McIlwains, at that period in time and may also have remained in the lumber business. No records remain to show where the timbers were sawn or who sold them to the builder, but their mid 19th century tool marks, remain and clearly showcase, a date of ca. 1850s an excellent factor in understanding the history of Fairview’s construction.
Of note are the solid turned columns of the house. These are rarely seen in the region and it is worthy noting that the Barkley – Johnson House in upper Fairfield County, not to great a distance from Fairview, also had two story turned columns of massive proportion. Did the same person provide columns to the two houses?
Three additional houses in the region, in Chester and Fairfield Counties are highly similar in construction and architectural detailing to Fairview. Each of these also dates to the early 1850s. Please click on the R&R Threads below to see these sites on R&R.
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