Name/Title
59 Church Street (Thomas Rose House)Entry/Object ID
CHURCH.059.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1735; restored 1929, 1939. Indicative of the merchant house plan in American and English port cities, the Thomas Rose House reflects the asymmetrical plan used for larger dwellings in Charleston during the second quarter of the 18th century. The Rose House stands 2½ stories high with 5 bays on the front facade, topped by a brick cornice, and capped by a hipped slate roof. The 2nd-floor drawing room or dining parlor extends across the entire floor, constituting one of the earliest surviving examples of this plan in the city. An original central doorway once led directly to a 1st floor counting room. This door was walled up when piazzas were added in the 19th century. Thomas Rose constructed the house on original Charles Town lot no. 61, inherited by his wife Beauler Elliott, replacing an earlier dwelling. A 1734 letter to Thomas's brother Richard Rose in England requesting that bricklayers be sent to Charleston appears related to the construction of the house. It was sold by Rose shortly after completion to the Savage family, who owned it for the next 90 years, keeping 12 slaves on the property. Sympathetic northern owners, the Frank Whitmans, restored the house in 1929, using local restoration architect Albert Simons. The Victorian piazza details were removed and replaced by woodwork imitating Neoclassical moldings. The structure was later purchased by the Connecticut architectural historian Henry Philip Staats, and further restoration work was undertaken. Staats was a founder of Historic Charleston Foundation and with his wife, Juliette Wiles Staats, bolstered preservation and artistic endeavors in Charleston. The original kitchen and laundry outbuildings survive and were incorporated into the present house plan via a 20th century addition. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
Four file folders:
Gift (Easement): Contains Partial Exterior and Partial Interior Easement; outline of easement protection details (unattributed, undated).
Management: Contains correspondence related to the management of the property; BAR application (2002).
Historical/Miscellaneous Information:
Files #1 contains National Register Nomination Form (1970); house history, timeline and MLS text (Brittany Lavelle, 2014); various FOHG house histories (1980, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2016, 2017); copies of HABS photos; graduate student research project: chain-of-title, documentation of the enslaved, documentation of outbuilding(s) (McKnight, 2020); FOHG garden history (1997, 2008); excerpt from An Architectural Guide to Charleston and from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry; house history (Jonathan Poston, undated); news articles including DYKYC (1975); photocopy of Inventory of Benjamin Savage; photocopy of Will of Martha Savage; correspondence from Ben Scott Whaley related to Church Street Historic Foundation (1977); list of architectural drawings at SC Historical Society; Church Street Historic Foundation candlelight tour program (undated).
File #2 contains documentation related to HCF's sale of the house to the easement donor. Includes correspondence, appraisal, legal documents, sale contract, and title.
File #3 contains "Hostess Information" by Juliette Staats, with a brief house history and detailed room-by-room descriptions of the house furnishings (March 15, 1975) and an earlier (1958) room-by-room description of the house furnishings; conveyance and probate documents (1788-1955) related to 57 Church compiled and abstracted by H. Phillip Staats.
Files will eventually contain additional documentation such as annual inspection reports; requests for alterations; correspondence related to the management of the property; correspondence and other documentation related to the sale of the property; new historical research; etc.
See Easement Documentation Photo Files for easement donation photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement). Note: These are "baseline" photos for the 2017 easement donation, taken in 2021 after rehabilitation was completed and 1 year delay due to COVID pandemic.
See also Easement Manager's files and digital inspection photographs.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
CHURCH.059.Source or Donor
59 Church Street (Thomas Rose House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Church Street, National Register of Historic Places, Loutrel Briggs garden, Easement Property, Thomas Rose House (Charleston, S.C.), Historic gardens--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 Gift Folder
1 Management Folder
3 Historical/Miscellaneous Info FoldersArchive Notes
Associated Material: South Carolina Historical Society has architectural drawings and other materials: (1) Simons & Lapham Architectural Drawings collection: Drawings of 59 Church Street, Thomas Rose House (42-35) (42-207); (2) Albert Simons Papers: 26-27-1/10 Architectural Specifications (1917-1965), alterations of Henry P. Staats' apartment at 59 Church Street (1942).
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 24Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2017.020.10, 2017.020.11, 2017.020.12a-b, 2017.020.13, 2017.020.14, 2017.020.15, 2017.020.16, 2017.020.17, 2017.020.18, 2017.020.4a-b, 2017.020.5, 2017.020.6, 2017.020.7, 2017.020.8, 2017.020.9, 2018.009.1a-d, 2018.009.2, 2018.009.3, CHURCH.059.10, CHURCH.059.11, CHURCH.059.12, CHURCH.059.13, CHURCH.059.14, CHURCH.059.15, CHURCH.059.16, CHURCH.059.17, CHURCH.059.18, CHURCH.059.19, CHURCH.059.2, CHURCH.059.20a-e, CHURCH.059.21, CHURCH.059.22, CHURCH.059.23, CHURCH.059.24, CHURCH.059.25, CHURCH.059.26, CHURCH.059.27, CHURCH.059.28, CHURCH.059.29, CHURCH.059.3, CHURCH.059.30, CHURCH.059.31, CHURCH.059.32, CHURCH.059.33.1a-g, CHURCH.059.33.2a-c, CHURCH.059.34a-b, CHURCH.059.35a-b, CHURCH.059.4, CHURCH.059.5, CHURCH.059.6, CHURCH.059.7, CHURCH.059.8, CHURCH.059.9
Related Units of Description: See also:
HALS/Loutrel Briggs Garden Survey (2007.016.1)
FOH materials (1948-1957) on LCDL
Scrapbooks 2008.005.12, 2008.005.13, and HCF newsclippings scrapbooks 1949-1952 and 1959-1962.Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 68-69
FOH Tour booklets on Lowcountry Digital Library
Other books:
Tour Guide Manuals (1975, 1984, 2011)
A Guide to Early American Homes (Dorothy & Richard Pratt, 1956)
60 Famous Houses of Charleston, South Carolina and 62 Famous Houses of Charleston, South Carolina (Jack Leland, 1985 & 1986) (NOTE: may be same article in both books)
The Dwellings of Colonial America (Thomas Tileston Waterman, 1950)
An American Heritage Guide: Historic Houses of America (1971)
The Doors and Gates of Charleston (Joseph F. Thompson, 1991)
News/Magazine Articles:
"An American Treasury: Historic Charleston" by Mary Evans (American Home, 1972)
"Focus on Historic Houses" (News & Courier, 1979)
"Do You Know Your Charleston?" captioned photograph by Peck [no article], ca. 1940s? (from scrapbook 2008.005.12)
"One of Historic Houses on Today's Tours (Samuel Gaillard Stoney, News & Courier, ca. 1940s? (from scrapbook 2008.005.12)
Miscellaneous articles in HCF newsclipping scrapbooks 1949-1952 and 1959-1962Provenance
Notes
Custodial History: Property research and "hostess information" (folder 3) given to HCF by Cathy Forrester sometime in 2017 with Church Street Historic Foundation papers, delivered to an unidentified HCF staff member and discovered by Archivist after the fact.General Notes
Note
Notes: Image of garden plan from historic garden survey file.
See Media link for PDF of photocopy of "Construction Plan of Grounds at 59 Church Street for Mr. and Mrs. Henry P. Staats" (7/15/1954).Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
January 3, 2007Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023