Name/Title
26 South Battery (Col. John Algernon Sydney Ashe House)Entry/Object ID
SBATTERY.026.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1853. Edward C. Jones, architect. John A.S. Ashe, a wealthy planter, banker, and South Carolina politician, inherited this lot in 1828 as well as $10,000 for use in building a house. More than two decades later Ashe, a bachelor in his fifties, proceeded with construction of this sophisticated dwelling that stands as one of the few surviving Italianate buildings erected in Charleston before the Civil War. The front facade includes many of the best features of this architectural style, including an L-shaped asymmetrical plan with pedimented front gable, a double-tiered polygonal piazza with arched wooden loggias, and double bracketed cornices and surmounting roof balustrades. The scale of the house, its interior arrangement, and its ornamentation suggest social uses. The octagonal stairhall holds a semicircular staircase lit by an octagonal skylight. The mahogany stair incorporates two motifs, leaf and rice stems, and rises to a height of nine feet. An octagonal drawing room on the west features an ornamental patch or cornice with a frieze of grapes and a marble mantel recessed in a square alcove in the north center. A portion of the extensive original outbuildings, which formerly provided living space for John Ashe's thirty domestic slaves, remains at the rear. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
Three files contain documentation of the easement on the property including related correspondence and Confirmation of Understanding; Part I certification (National Register); annual inspection reports; requests for alterations; correspondence related to the management of the property; FOHG house histories (undated ca. 1980s, 1992); building history (Maurie McInnis); newspaper articles (including 1975? DYKYC).
See Easement Documentation Photo Files for easement donation photographs (Exh. B to Deed of Conservation Easement) and Covenant/Easement Inspection Photo Files for inspection photography.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
SBATTERY.026.Source or Donor
26 South Battery (Col. John Algernon Sydney Ashe House)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
South Battery, Easement Property, Historic buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 Gift Folder
1 Management Folder
1 History/Miscellaneous 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
SBATTERY.026.2
Related Units of Description: Easement Manager's working files
HABS Documentation of the South Battery, SBATTERY.GEN.1A-BRelated Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 270-271Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
March 21, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 16, 2023