Let's Pretend

Historic Property

Alternate Name:

Unknown

Street Address:

312 Horry St. SE, Aiken, SC (Aiken County)

---

Site Number:

03_1991

Control Number:

U/03/1991

Date Surveyed:

January 5 2010

Category:

Building

Construction Date:

circa 1880

Alteration Date:

circa 1910

Historic Use:

Residential/Domestic

Current Use:

Residential/Domestic

Historic Core Shape:

Irregular

Number of Stories:

2

Construction Method:

frame

Exterior Walls Materials:

Weatherboard

Foundation Materials:

Brick

National Register Determination:

contributes to listed district;

Signficant Architectural Features:

Complex roof on asymmetrical façade; pediment gable supported by fluted columns marks front entrance, simple door and window surround with slight segmented arch at header; boxed eaves; corner boards; several brick chimneys on roof.. Prev. SHPO No. 796; Winter Colony Historic District 2

Alterations:

Early 20th century addition to side of house; modern replacement windows and doors.

Historical Information:

After two of his sons died of Diphtheria, Edward Palmer Henderson thought that the low and boggy area where his home was situated had something to do with their deaths. In the 1880's he built a house on Laurens Street and moved. After a couple of other people had owned the house, Gouverneur Morris bought the house in 1910. A new York born author , Morris gave the house the name "Let's Pretend" and added the two-story south wing. After Mrs. Morris (Elsa Waterbury) left Morris, he was heavily in debt and, taking only a few personal possessions, left the house. For several years the house, furnished with rare antiques and fine china, was unoccupied. Mr. and Mrs. Salley (Eulalie & Julian) bought the house at a master's sale and lived there for a while. In 1926, Mrs. Austin H. Niblack of Chicago and Lake Forest bought the house and a meat packing fortune. Mr. Niblack we a stock broker and also a fine cabinet maker. Mrs. Niblack's sister, Narcissa Thore, is noted for her collection of doll house furnishings now housed in the Chicago Fine Arts Institute. (1982 Survey)_x000D_ _x000D_ Edward Palmer Henderson built this rambling, weatherboard, Colonial style cottage. The charming, livable home was once owned by noted novelist Gouverneur Morris of New York, who entertained here the famous author Richard Harding Davis.

Source of Historical Information:

Aiken Historic Home Tour by Aiken County Parks, Recreation & Tourism Department.

Survey:

City of Aiken Historic Resources Survey, Aiken County, South Carolina. May 2010

Quadrangle Name:

Aiken

---