90 Church Street (Peter Leger House)

Archive

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Historic Charleston Foundation

90 Church Street (right)

90 Church Street (right)

Name/Title

90 Church Street (Peter Leger House)

Entry/Object ID

CHURCH.090.1

Scope and Content

Constructed ca. 1759-60; restored 1927. The houses at 90-94 Church Street were called by the late architectural historian Samuel G. Stoney "three variations on the theme of the Charleston single house." Each reflect the development of the single house from the mid-18th century. The clients who contracted for the 3 three-story brick houses -- Leger, Christie, and Cooper -- were all wealthy and socially prominent individuals whose architectural aspirations, according to one architectural historian, defined Charleston's early townhouses as "a union of cosmopolitan and vernacular building traditions." 90 (and 94) Church Street was constructed in the 1760s as a three-story, hipped roof, center-passage plan dwelling with ground-floor front commercial rooms or offices. The site at 90 Church contains a two-story slave quarters-kitchen. Each of the three edifices, particularly 90 Church, retains splendid original woodwork. During the early to mid-19th century, the owner of the Leger House completed both a new garden, outbuildings, and two-story piazzas as well. The houses underwent the removal of their commercial usage, and the houses were physically connected to their back buildings, showing a segregation between work space and domestic space and reflecting a topographically redefined central business district. The latter change in which individual buildings on the lot were connected with infill wings represented a two-part shift in lot planning toward, first, the consolidation of household functions under a single roof and, second, a growing sense of room specialization. The house was returned to single family usage in the 20th century. 90 Church Street was restored by the brother of architect Albert Simons. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.) Files contain documentation of the easement on the property including related correspondence and Confirmation of Understanding; Part I certification (determination letter and application); annual inspection reports, requests for alterations, and correspondence related to the management of the property; house histories from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston and the Lowcountry, Architectural Guide to Charleston, and City of Charleston Tour Guide Training Manual; history of the back building (Edward Chappell, 1997); newspaper article (DYKYC, 1979); early Festival of Homes house history (ca. 1949); FOHG house history (1996); chain-of-title research and maps (Larimer, 2020); deed and probate document research including inventory of Peter Leger; 1886 Earthquake damage assessment; Hurricane Hugo damage assessment; photocopies of maps (Bridgens & Allen, 1872 Birds-Eye View, 1884-1955 Sanborns). See Easement Documentation Photo Files for easement donation (1982) photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement) and Covenant/Easement Inspection Photo Files for inspection photography. Note that over the years this house has been referred to as the Thomas Legare House. Recent (2020) research reveals that he neither built the house, lived there, or owned the lot.

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

CHURCH.090.

Source or Donor

90 Church Street (Peter Leger House)

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

Church Street, Easement Property, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

1 Gift Folder 1 Management Folder 1 History/Miscellaneous Folder

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Shelf

Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box 26

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

CHURCH.090.2, CHURCH.090.3, CHURCH.090.4, CHURCH.090.5, CHURCH.090.6, CHURCH.090.8, CHURCH.090.9 Related Units of Description: See also Easement Manager's working files for more information.

Related Publications

Notes

Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 80-81 FOH Tour booklets on Lowcountry Digital Library

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

January 16, 2007

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 17, 2023