Fenwick Hall

John Fenwick, a brother of the former privateer Robert Fenwick, was from a county family in England. He acquired the plantation on the Stono River by 1721. In 1730, he built the central, rectangular portion of the house.{{cite book | last = Stoney | first = Samuel Gaillard |author2=Simons, A. |author3=Lapham, Samuel Jr. | title = Plantations of the Carolina Low Country | publisher=Courier Dover Publications | year = 1989 | edition = 7th | location = Mineola, New York | pages =49–51, 124–137| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MTuJ9pTlslsC&q=0486260895+fenwickk&pg=PA44 | isbn =0-486-26089-5 }}

His son, Edward Fenwick, inherited the plantation about 1750. He constructed a carriage house to the west and a stable to the east of the house. He imported and bred English thoroughbred horses for racing. He built a {{convert|3|mi|km|abbr=on|1}} track nearby under the current Maybank Highway.{{cite book | last = Rogers | first = George C. | title = Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys | publisher=University of South Carolina Press | year = 1984 | location = Columbia, South Carolina | page = 114 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wFc1rx43Xr0C&q=0872492974+Fenwick+Hall&pg=PA114

| isbn = 0-87249-297-4 }}{{cite book | last = Federal Writer's Program of the Works Progress Administration | author-link = Federal Writers' Project| title = South Carolina: A Guide to the Palmetto State | publisher=Oxford University Press | year = 1941 | location = New York | pages =284 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VU1I137MqM4C&pg=PA284| isbn = 9781603540391}} During this period, the plantation was called John's Island Stud as described in Harrison Fairfax's book of the same name.{{cite book | last = Haynie | first = Connie Walpole | title = John's Island | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | year = 2007 | location = Mount Pleasant, South Carolina| pages = 11–13 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=maIJ6YwRoYkC&q=0738543462+Fenwick&pg=PA12 | isbn = 978-0-7385-4346-8}}{{cite news|title=Courier and Post |work=Good Morning Lowcounty: Sport of Kings |place=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=Evening Post Publishing Company |date=May 1, 2007 |url=http://v1.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=141742§ion=gmlc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723005254/http://v1.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=141742§ion=gmlc |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |df=mdy }}{{cite book | last = Fairfax | first = Harrison | title = The John's Island stud (South Carolina), 1750–1788 | publisher=Old Dominion Press | year = 1931 | lccn = 31030932 }} Since Fenwick was a Tory in the Revolutionary War, the property was confiscated. Some of it was returned by legislation in 1785.

In 1787, the plantation was sold to Fenwick's cousin John Gibbes. At this time, the octagonal wing was added. Daniel J. Townsend bought the property in 1840. It stayed in his family until 1876.{{cite book |last=Edgar |first=Walter |author2=The Humanities Council SC |title=South Carolina Encyclopedia |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=2006 |location=Columbia, South Carolina |pages=320–321 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=90ITAAAAYAAJ&q=1-57003-598-9 |isbn=1-57003-598-9}}

By 1929, when the house was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Morawetz from Burt Whilden, the house was in ruins.{{cite news | url=http://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A13E3762B9393175B%40GB3NEWS-1463438CAF2421F0%402431020-1460B9390BC9A711%4019-146349EDA5A5F080%40?search_terms=fenwick%20hall%7Criver&s_dlid=DL0115091202261930184&s_ecproduct=SUB-Y-6995-RI&s_ecprodtype=RENEW-A-R&s_trackval=&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=&s_subterm=Subscription%20until%3A%2007%2F13%2F2016&s_docsbal=%20&s_subexpires=07%2F13%2F2016&s_docstart=&s_docsleft=&s_docsread=&s_accountid=AC0113061420484320982&s_upgradeable=no | title=200-Year Old Fenwick Hall Is Sold By Mrs. Morawetz | work=Evening Post | date=October 22, 1943 | access-date=September 11, 2015 | location=Charleston, South Carolina | pages=8B}} It was restored by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Morawetz with the assistance of the architects Simons and Lapham of Charleston. On May 18, 1938, Mr. Morawetz died, and the house was inherited by his wife who sold it to Mr. Claude Blanchard in 1943. The most recent sale of the house and property was in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.handsomeproperties.com/real-estate/1709-river-road-johns-island-sc-29455/18008905/53735305|title=Sold: 1709 River Road, Johns Island, SC 29455 | 16 Beds / 14 Full Baths / 2 Half Baths | $9,750,000 - SOLD LISTING, MLS # 18008905}}

It is a Georgian style, two-story brick house on a raised basement. The original section was about {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} by {{convert|36|ft|m|abbr=on|0}}. The hip roof was topped with a balustraded deck. The brickwork was Flemish bond. The south elevation has reconstructed nine over nine lights with reconstructed shutters.

The rectangular section has five bays with a Huguenot floor plan. The south facade entrance comes into a three-bay drawing room on the left. There is a smaller two-bay parlor to the left. The central hall extends to stairs at the back. There is rear rooms on either side of the hallway. There is an entrance to the 1787 octagonal wing in the northwest corner of the parlor.

The 1787 two-story wing is eight-sided about {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} by {{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on|0}}. It has two rooms divided by a staircase.

File:Fenwick Hall Plantation, Carriage House & Stable.jpg

The drawing room is plastered and has reproduction wallpaper. The other rooms on the first floor are wood paneled. There are seven bedrooms on the second floor. The four in the original section are wood paneled.

In the 1931 restoration, a veranda was added to the east and a small two-story wing on the west with a kitchen and bedroom and bath. A reconstructed simple entrance with pediment and two engaged Doric columns replaced a portico that was added in 1787.

Over forty additional pictures of the interior and exterior are available.{{cite web|title=Fenwick Hall Plantation, Northeast intersection of River Road & Maybank Hig, Johns Island, Charleston County, SC (Photographs) |work=Historic American Buildings Survey |publisher=National Park Service |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhphoto&fileName=sc/sc0800/sc0848/photos/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Fenwick%20Hall%20Plantation,%20Northeast%20intersection%20of%20River%20Road%20%26%20Maybank%20Hig,%20Johns%20Island,%20Charleston%20County,%20SC&displayType=1&itemLink=r?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@(sc0848)) |access-date=May 20, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A floor plan, architectural drawings, and more photographs are also available. A watercolor of Fenwick Hall prior to restoration is at the Greenville County Museum of Art.{{cite book | last = Hutchisson | first = James M. |author2=Greene, Harlan | title = Renaissance in Charleston | publisher=University of Georgia Press | year = 2003 | location = Athens, Georgia | page = 49 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OT-ORkGfUaIC&q=082032518X+Fenwick&pg=PA49 | isbn = 0-8203-2518-X}}

The two-story brick coach house toward the west has been turned into a garage. A similar stable on the east no longer exists. A formal 18th-century garden was laid out in the 1931 restoration.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston County, South Carolina

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• http://fenwickhall.com/

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina}}

Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina

Category:Georgian architecture in South Carolina

Category:Houses completed in 1730

Category:Houses in Charleston County, South Carolina

Category:Plantation houses in South Carolina

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

Category:1730 establishments in South Carolina