Name/Title
8 South Battery (Col. William Washington House)Entry/Object ID
SBATTERY.008.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1768; additions and alterations, ca. 1800, 1840; restored with additions and alterations, ca. 1916. This building is the only pre-Revolutionary dwelling on the Battery. Thomas Savage built the house before 1770, and his widow, Mary Elliott Savage, sold it in 1785 to a young Virginia Revolutionary officer, William Washington, cousin of George Washington and hero of the battles of Cowpens and Eutaw Springs. Washington married Jane Elliott, daughter of Charles Elliott of Charleston, and they divided their married life between her Sandy Hill Plantation in the south end of Charleston County and this town house. The original portion of the Washington House stands 2½ stories on a raised brick basement. Its first-floor east windows are capped by the original pedimented hoods, exceptionally similar to those on the Charles Elliott house at 22 Legare Street. Similar hoods were added to the South Battery elevation in 1916. Pairs of dormers project on the south and north sides of its slate, hipped roof. During William and Jane Washington's occupancy, the house was referred to as "1 Church Street" and a brick staircase rose from Church Street to a center door that gave entry to the larger of the two first-floor rooms. With the staircase positioned in a rear chamber, 8 South Battery's original plan is reminiscent of 37 and 59 Church Street. Alterations to the house in the early-19th century include the pedimented portico on the east elevation and a similar portico serving as the central pavilion of a full double-tiered piazza on the west, along with interior Neoclassical changes such as marble insets in the fireplaces. Greek Revival pocket doors dividing the drawing rooms were added some years later. The formal garden with paisley-patterned brick beds probably dates from the antebellum period as well. The architectural firm of Todd, Simons, and Todd masterminded the restoration of the house in 1916 for Julian Mitchell; extensive alterations included the shuttered enclosures of the piazzas, the removal of a wall on the interior to enlarge the stair-hall, and an addition to the north for a kitchen and other amenities. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains FOHG house histories (undated/1960s?, 1994); newspaper articles (including 1978 DYKYC); house history from Tour Guide Training Manual (2011); house history from Architectural Guide to Charleston (by Simons & Thomas); Preservation Progress article about Albert Simons restorations (March 1963); excerpt about the garden (including landscape plan) from the books Charleston Gardens by Loutrel Briggs and possibly Gardens of Historic Charleston by James Cothran.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
SBATTERY.008.Source or Donor
8 South Battery (Col. William Washington House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
South Battery, Loutrel Briggs garden, 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 95Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2006.013.2D, 2011.015.6
Related Units of Description: HABS Documentation of the South Battery (SBATTERY.GEN.1A-B)Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 267General Notes
Note
Notes: Image in this record from Whit Smith photos (L.2004.019.1).Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
March 20, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023