Name/Title
51 East Bay Street (Caspar Christian Schutt House)Entry/Object ID
EBAY.051.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1800-02; restored 1994-95. The vast scale of this residence makes it one of the largest single houses ever built in Charleston. Standing three stories with corner quoining, a dentiled brick cornice, and hipped roof, the house was stuccoed on the east and south elevations but retains its brick finish on the north. The triple-tiered piazzas with graduating orders of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns and the enormous windows with their original six-over-six sash hint at the scale and decoration of the interior: splendid Adamesque plaster friezes and cornices, mantels and door architraves with composition moldings, and a curved elliptical stair rising under a plaster ceiling medallion. Caspar Christian Schutt, one of Charleston's first wealthy German merchants, completed the house within a few years after his 1799 purchase of the lot, locating his stores and countinghouse here. Passing successively to several other merchants, it became the residence of John Fraser following his tenure at 43 East Bay. One of Charleston's most complete ranges of outbuildings stretch to the west and south including the original kitchen, carriage house, servants' quarters, and stables. The enclosure of the property includes a paneled coping with banded piers and balustrade and wrought-iron gates with a curious star motif. Splendidly restored by new owners who rescued it from a planned condominium project, the Schutt House remains a single family residence. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains narrative histories; newspaper articles (including DYKYC); house history from Vernacular Architecture of Charleston & the Lowcountry); house history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston; historical/chain-of-title research notes; copy of plat (mostly illegible); will of Benjamin Dart Roper (owner 1753-1799); architectural drawings; Rosen and Associates inspection report (1992); property history (unattributed pamphlet written after restoration, ca. 2011).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
EBAY.051.Source or Donor
51 East Bay Street (Caspar Christian Schutt House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
East Bay Street, 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 33Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2005.006.5, 2011.015.19a-b, EBAY.051.2, EBAY.051.3, EBAY.051.4, EBAY.051.5a-b, EBAY.051.6, EBAY.051.7, EBAY.051.8a-h
Related Units of Description: Preservation Consultants files (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. 95-96Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
July 6, 2007Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023