Name/Title
63 Beaufain Street (Theresa McHugh Tenement), 65 Beaufain Street (Richard Brenan Tenement), Currently Robert Mills ManorEntry/Object ID
BEAUFAIN.063-65.001Scope and Content
63 Beaufain Street (Theresa McHugh Tenement) was constructed ca. 1849. 65 Beaufain Street (Richard Brenan Tenement) was constructed ca. 1806-1816. Both structures reflect 19th century design in the tradition of the Charleston single house. Made of stuccoed brick, they have west facing piazzas on both the first and second floors. Tuscan columns support the piazzas and ventriculated quoins decorate the structure on 63 Beaufain. Sidelights and a glazed transom accentuate the main entry off of the piazza. The older of the 2 structures, 65 Beaufain, was constructed Richard Brenan. It is assumed that this property was used as a rental property by Brenan since the city directories of the period do not list him as a resident. 63 Beaufain, an almost identical structure architecturally, was probably constructed ca. 1849 by Theresa McHugh who apparently did not live in the structure and used it as a rental property. The 1861 census indicates that 2 men as well as slaves were renting the property from Ms. McHugh. Flanked by mid-20th century multi-unit brick dwellings, these two structures have been incorporated into the Richard Mills Manor Project, constructed 1939-1941 and designed by local architects Douglas Ellington, Simons and Lapham, and landscape architect Loutrel Briggs. The 34-unit Manor Project was one of the first in the Charleston area and is reflective of the creativity of Charlestonians in adapting the New Deal programs for low-income housing. The 2-story, gabled-roof brick structures were built in the form of those in other areas, bus in their materials and detailing as well as scale they seem like dependencies behind old Charleston houses, arranged in a courtyard fashion. This grouping, which replaced older, dilapidated structures along Beaufain, Magazine, Franklin, and Smith Streets, remain a residential complex for persons of fixed income today. The placement of these buildings forms an enclosed landscape which facilitates community activity in this area. In 1940, the Housing Authority of Charleston purchased 63 and 65 Beaufain Street and Incorporated them into the project, an important step to preserving the buildings as well as providing low-income housing, and providing an example of 20th century adaptive re-use of Charleston's early 19th century structures. (Buildings of Charleston, Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry.)
File contains building history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston; historical and deed research notes; newspaper articles about proposed plans to renovate or sell as private dwellings (1980s); captioned newspaper photograph depicting Wilson Street as it appeared in 1908; Charleston Housing Authority site plan of Robert Mills Manor; minutes of HCF's Area Projects Committee regarding the pending study of the disposition of the Robert Mills Manor Housing Project (6/18/1985); Housing Authority report from the 1939 City Yearbook.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
BEAUFAIN.063-65Source or Donor
63-65 Beaufain Street (Theresa McHugh Tenement, Richard Brenan Tenement)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Beaufain Street, Harleston Village, Adaptive reuse, Loutrel Briggs garden, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Associated Material: HABS Photographs: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/sc1137/ (see Media link)
Finding Aids: Index to Property Files.
Level of Description: FolderLocation
Location
Shelf
Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Location
Container
PF Box 7Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
BEAUFAIN.063-65.002a-h
Related Units of Description: Preservation Consultants files for Robert Mills Manor (Part I and/or Part II applications and/or photos and/or miscellaneous documentation), 2011.022.1Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 345
Vernacular Architecture of Charleston, pg. 120-121
1939 City Yearbook photos (pp. 168, 169, 172)General Notes
Note
Notes: Images #2-4 from 1939 City Yearbook.
Statement of Significance, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/sc1137/):
The Robert Mills Manor Remains as Charleston's earliest and most intact example of a locally initiated public low-income housing project. During the 1930s, the Federal government began a subsidy programs for the development of low-income housing and for slum clearance. The City of Charleston quickly took advantage of these programs, developing several large low income projects, the first of which was the Robert Mills Manor. Its associations with prominent local architects Albert Simons and Samuel Lapham, through their Housing Authorities Architects, and noted local landscape architect Loutrel W. Briggs, the site is an example of excellent early twentieth century institutional architecture and planning. While current plans call for the demolition of 3 Cromwell Alley, and 4, 6, and 7 Wilson Street, the essential form of the complex's plan will not be substantially altered and the loss of these structures is mitigated by the rehabilitation of the remaining twenty-six similar structures. The remaining buildings include at least one structure essentially identical to each of the buildings being removed.
Survey number: HABS SC-872-A
Building/structure dates: 1939-1940 Initial ConstructionCreated By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
August 31, 2005Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023