A Walking Tour through the Historic Homes of Charleston

For those of you who know me (or for any lose acquaintances on Facebook), you might recall (or have received a notification) that I recently celebrated a birthday. And a fairly big birthday, at that. Not because it’s an especially significant milestone, but because it marks a critical juncture in one’s life – that is, passing from youth into something that’s not quite middle-aged, but certainly no longer young. This is what happens the day you turn 30, or so I’ve gathered from my friends and family – you’re officially old or how’s it feel to no longer be young? Well it feels exactly the same as 29 of course, thank you very much.

My boyfriend, also wishing to duly honor the momentous occasion, took it upon himself to plan a birthday trip to Charleston, South Carolina. He began months in advance (very out of his go-with-the-flow character), making hotel reservations, booking flights, and even inviting my parents to drive up from Huntsville for the weekend to hang out with us. The whole affair was originally intended as a surprise, but the excitement proved too much for him to bear and he ended up having to tell me (very much in character).

While the current pandemic may have precluded any grand visions I had of absconding to some far flung destination to fritter away the remainder of my 20s, Charleston provided an excellent, if somewhat unexpected, alternative closer to home. Perhaps more than any other small American city I’ve been to, Charleston has a distinct old world feel, quite southern European with its pastel stucco houses, palmettos, and cobblestones roads. So on the heels of our trip and already pining for another getaway, I’d like to share a selection of photos that I captured during the hours we spent walking the city, drooling over the architecture and scheming how we might one day afford a vacation house there.

Given its history as one of the earliest European settled towns in America (founded in 1670), the old world character makes sense. Indeed, Charleston is home to a wealth of architectural styles that span the centuries from Colonial and Federal to Italianate and Victorian. And then there is the quintessential Charleston single house, a vernacular style largely unique to the Charleston peninsula that takes advantage of the city’s long, narrow plots and prevailing southerly winds with a one-room width design and large porches, or “piazzas” that run the length of both the first and second floors.

The sherbet pink and yellow palette of the houses pictured above is typical of Charleston. Nowhere is this more pronounced than the Instagram famous Rainbow Row, which consists of 13 taffy hued 18th and 19th century Georgian row houses – the largest such grouping in the U.S.

But if there’s one thing that Charleston has in abundance (beyond humidity and Vineyard Vines-wearing tourists), it’s brick. The material is ubiquitous across the Lowcountry, thanks to the region’s clay-rich soils. Though itself a humble material, there is something about brick construction that often reads classic and quite stately. Having spent most of my life moving up and down the East Coast, minus the last three-ish years I’ve spent out West, it’s a material that I find myself appreciating more now that I am no longer constantly surrounded by it. Hence my great enthusiasm in photographing every piece of brick that I saw in Charleston…

Another material widespread across the Holy City – and one that I love virtually wherever and whenever I find it – is stucco. Here, stucco was traditionally applied as a cladding to help weatherproof the porous bricks from the muggy Charleston climate. But it also lends a muted, soft textural quality to the structure that is only enhanced over time with a lovely patina.

And since we’re on the subject of masonry, the historic Aiken-Rhett House, pictured below, bears an interesting application of yellow lime wash and stenciled white lines that simulate the appearance of stone blocks. Originally built in 1820 in the Federal style but since renovated to incorporate Greek Revival and Victorian period influences, the house currently operates as a museum run by the Historic Charleston Foundation. The Foundation has taken a preserve-as-found approach (as opposed to restoring the house to its former glory), and passing through the once grand rooms, visitors are treated to century-old peeling wallpaper, cracking paint, and water damaged ceilings – a time-worn, decaying beauty.

There is no denying that Charleston has a long, complicated history and that this legacy has left its mark on the city, its denizens, and its culture in countless ways. And while Charleston’s rich architectural heritage is itself a product of this complex, blighted past, it is undoubtedly significant and worthy of preservation. It is why you’ll hear from locals and visitors alike that one of the most pleasant things you can do in Charleston is to simply walk its streets, savoring the romance of its gracious homes nestled among so many trees in varying arrangements of elegant droop. No, it ain’t quite the South of France, but it is truly a beautiful little city. And there’s shrimp and grits to boot.