Name/Title
25 East Battery (Charles Drayton House)Entry/Object ID
EBATTERY.025.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1883-86; rehabilitated early 1970s. This house boasts possibly the finest Eastlake detailing in Charleston and has a collection of antebellum dependencies to the rear. Prior to the Civil War, a significant Greek Revival house and outbuildings, stood on the property. It was shelled during the war, and its ruins stood abandoned for over 2 decades. The current dwelling was built by Charles Drayton, of the family of Drayton Hall Plantation, between 1883 and 1886 with a fortune accumulated in the postwar phosphate industry. Although tradition claims that Charles built the house, the deed records his wife, Eliza Drayton, as the owner of the property. The antebellum use of the rear structure along Atlantic Street is uncertain, though the arch at the western end suggests a carriage entrance to the yard from the side street. This access is quite unlike the primary street access employed by most of Charleston's 19th century lots. The smaller building in the rear yard was likely a tack house that fronted the row of stables running behind the Atlantic Street lots. Some woodwork, such as the balcony on the kitchen house and the doors to the stables, date to the 1883-86 construction of the main house. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains FOHG house history (1990); house history from The Vernacular Architecture of Charleston; house history from Architectural Guide to Charleston; historical/chain-of-title research notes*; newspaper articles (including 1975, 1981 DYKYC); photocopies of photographs*; Sanborn maps (1888, 1942); documents presumably submitted in support of BAR applications (elevations and photos, Glenn Keyes, 2005); documents submitted in support of BAR application (HCF position statement, drawings, Sanborn maps, plats, photos (Wertimer, 2004); excerpt from "A Philadelphia Family" regarding the Woodward family (previous owners of the house); copy of photo of "Residence of Charles H. Drayton, Esq." from "Resources & Attractions of Charleston" (ca. 1898); HCF memoranda regarding the purchase and resale of 25 East Battery by HCF (1998); brief letter from Charlotta Drayton to R.B. Cuthbert about the house (1966).
*This documentation is unattributed and undated.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
EBATTERY.025.Source or Donor
25 East Battery (Charles Drayton House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
East Battery, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
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 32Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentLocation
Container
2Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2005.006.4a-p, 2021.005.2, EBATTERY.025.2, EBATTERY.025.3, EBATTERY.025.4, EBATTERY.025.5a-e, EBATTERY.025.6Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 222General Notes
Note
Notes: Replaced the Daniel Heyward House, which had been shelled and burned out during the Civil War (p. 30, Charleston Then & Now, Phelps).Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
June 28, 2007Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023