The William Gibbes House is a historic house at 64 South Battery in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. Built about 1772, it is one of the nation's finest examples of classical Georgian architecture. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1970. and

Description and history

The Gibbes House is set on the north side of South Battery, at the southern end of the historic Charleston peninsula. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, set on a high stone foundation. It is covered by a hip roof with a front-facing gable, and is sheathed in wooden clapboard siding. The main facade is five bays wide, with a central main entrance that is accessed by stairs descending from the landing on either side, and a service entrance in the basement level between the stairs, set in a segmented-arch opening. The main entrance is set under a broad modillioned pediment, which is supported by four pilasters, with wide sidelight windows between the outer pairs. First-floor windows are framed by pedimented lintels and bracketed sills, while the second-floor windows have flatter cornices. The main roof line is modillioned, as is the gable above, which has a round window at its center. The interior follows a plan known in Charleston as a "double house". It has four rooms on each floor, two on each side of a central hall, which is an elaborately decorated space with a columned arch and a staircase with a Civil War-era wrought iron railing. Most of its interior stylings are not Georgian but

Adamesque The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...

, the result of a 1794 restyling. The south parlor spaces are fully paneled. On the second floor is a ballroom with a cove ceiling adorned with plaster medallions and corner fans. The house lot was purchased by William Gibbes in 1772, and would at that time have included waterfront access. The house was probably built soon afterward, and was certainly completed by 1779. The Smith family purchased the house in 1794, and remodeled portions Adamesque style, including the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

steps in front. The wrought iron

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

and lantern standards in front are considered among the best ironwork of the Adamesque period in Charleston.Robert P. Stockton, ''Information for Guides of Historic Charleston, South Carolina'' 410-11 (1985). After the Civil War, the house was acquired by the widow of Washington Roebling, builder of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

; she extended the building to the north in 1928. When the house sold for $6.1 million in January 2006, it became the most expensive property to sell on the peninsula to that time. The previous highest sale was for the

Col. John Ashe House The John Ashe House is an 18th-century house at 32 South Battery, Charleston, South Carolina. The house's date of construction is unknown, but it was built sometime around 1782 and renovated in the 1930s. In August 2015, it replaced the James Sim ...

at 32 South Battery which had sold for $5.1 million in September 2003. The house remained the highest priced house to sell in Charleston until the sale of the Patrick O'Donnell House for $7.2 million.

References

External links

William Gibbes House, Charleston County (64 S. Battery, Charleston)
at South Carolina Department of Archives and History * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbes, William, House National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Houses in Charleston, South Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses completed in 1775 National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina Historic district contributing properties in South Carolina

Description and history

See also

References

External links