Drayton Hall

{{short description|Historic house in South Carolina, United States}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Drayton Hall

| nrhp_type = nhl

| nrhp_type2 = cp

| nocat = yes

| image = Drayton Hall 2007.jpg

| caption = Drayton Hall (front)

| nearest_city = Charleston, South Carolina and North Charleston, South Carolina

| coordinates = {{coord|32|52|15.24|N|80|4|34.68|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin =

| area =

| built = 1747–1752

| architect =

| architecture = Palladian

| designated_nrhp_type= October 9, 1960{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=526&ResourceType=Building|title=Drayton Hall|accessdate=2008-03-21|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023075938/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=526&ResourceType=Building|archivedate=2007-10-23}}

| added = October 15, 1966{{NRISref|2007a}}

| refnum = 66000701

}}

Drayton Hall is an 18th-century plantation house located on the Ashley River about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston, west of the Ashley in the Lowcountry. An example of Palladian architecture in North America and the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive intact through both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, it is a National Historic Landmark.

Description

The house has a double projecting portico on the west facade, which faces away from the river and toward the land side approach from Ashley River Road. The portico resembles a similar feature at the Villa Cornaro near Venice, Italy, designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1551. The floor plan of Drayton Hall is Palladian-inspired as well, perhaps derived from Plate 38 of James Gibbs' A Book of Architecture,James Gibbs, A Book of Architecture, containing designs of buildings and ornaments (London, 1728; repr. New York, 2008), {{ISBN|0-486-46601-9}}. the influential pattern-book published in London in 1728.Carl I. Gable, "Searching for Sources: What are Drayton Hall's Palladian Roots?" Palladiana: Journal of the Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc., vol. 4, no. 1 (Fall 2009), p. 5. A large central entrance stair hall with a symmetrical divided staircase is backed by a large salon, flanked by square and rectangular chambers.[http://buffaloah.com/a/archsty/geo/drayton/source/3.html Drayton Hall] Pedimented chimney-pieces in the house echo designs of Inigo Jones.{{Cite web |title=Drayton Hall |url=https://blogs.cofc.edu/aah/2013/03/04/drayton-hall/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=blogs.cofc.edu}}

History

File:John Drayton House.JPG at 2 Ladson St. in downtown Charleston, South Carolina was built after 1746 by John Drayton, the builder of Drayton Hall, and shows his preference for the Georgian Palladian style.]]

The mansion was built for the grandfather of John Drayton, John Drayton Sr. ({{circa|1715}}–1779; son of Thomas and Ann Drayton) after he bought the property in 1738.[http://www.draytonhall.org/research/people/drayton_1.html "Seven Generations of the Drayton Family: From the Colonial Period to Modern Day"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303031100/http://www.draytonhall.org/research/people/drayton_1.html |date=March 3, 2011 }}, Drayton Hall website

For many decades, the house was thought to have been begun in 1738 and completed in 1752. In 2014, an examination of wood cores showed that the attic timbers were cut from trees felled in the winter of 1747–48. Because the attic framing would have to have been in place well before the completion of the interior finishes, the house is now thought to have been occupied by the early 1750s.{{cite news | url=http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140510/PC1207/140519945 | title=How old is your house? The wood would know... | work=Post & Courier | date=May 10, 2014 | accessdate=May 10, 2014 | author=Behre, Robert | location=Charleston, South Carolina}} The seven-bay, double-pile plantation house is within a {{convert|630|acre|km2|adj=on}} site that is part of the plantation based on indigo and rice and the former site of 13 slave cabins believed to have housed approximately 78 slaves. Seven generations of Drayton heirs preserved the house, though the flanking outbuildings have not survived: an earthquake destroyed the laundry house in 1886, and a hurricane destroyed the kitchen in 1893.[http://south-carolina-plantations.com/charleston/drayton-hall.html "Drayton Hall"], South Carolina Plantations, SCIway

The house is located in the Ashley River Historic District, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.{{Cite journal|author=James Dillon|date=August 1976|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|url={{NHLS url|id=66000701}}|format=pdf|publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=66000701|title=Accompanying five photos, exterior, from 1975|photos=y}} {{small|(32 KB)}}

Gallery

File:Drayton Hall c. 1890.PNG|When photographed by George LaGrange Cook in about 1890, Drayton Hall's two flanker buildings were still extant.

File:Drayton Hall plantation house distant.JPG|Drayton Hall plantation house viewed from behind one of several live oaks.

File:Drayton Hall1 Carol M Highsmith.jpg|Drayton Hall plantation house by Carol M. Highsmith.

File:The ashley river just behind drayton hall.JPG|The Ashley river, just behind Drayton Hall

File:Rear view of drayton hall.JPG|Rear view of Drayton Hall

File:Main down stairs living space at drayton hall.JPG|Main living space at Drayton Hall

File:Staircase at drayton hall.JPG|Drayton Hall staircase

References

External links

[http://www.draytonhall.org/ Drayton Hall homepage]
[http://www.palladiancenter.org/ The Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc.]
[http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/charleston/S10817710005/index.htm Drayton Hall, Charleston County (S.C. Hwy. 61, Charleston vicinity) (with 37 photographs)], at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
[http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Drayton_Hall.html Great Buildings on-line:] Drayton Hall
{{HABS |survey=SC-377 |id=sc0132 |title=Drayton Hall, Ashley River Road (State Route 61), Charleston, Charleston County, SC |photos=12 |dwgs=14 |data=19 |cap=1}}
[http://south-carolina-plantations.com/charleston/drayton-hall.html South Carolina Plantations:] Drayton Hall

Category:Slave cabins and quarters in the United States

Category:Houses completed in 1752

Category:1752 establishments in South Carolina

Category:South Carolina in the American Civil War

Category:National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina

Category:Drayton family

Category:Historic house museums in South Carolina

Category:Plantation houses in South Carolina

Category:Palladian Revival architecture in the United States

Category:Neoclassical architecture in South Carolina

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina

Category:Museums in Charleston, South Carolina