Let's Pretend
Historic Property
Alternate Name:
Blank
Street Address:
S. side of Colleton between Horry & Marion 312 Horry Street, Aiken, SC
Site Number:
S108042001100081
Site Number:
2-10- 27 (56)
Date Surveyed:
September 16 1982
Category:
Building
Current Use:
Residential/Domestic
Construction Method:
wood frame
Roof Materials:
composition shingle
Signficant Architectural Features:
Large one and two story weatherboarded house, irregular in plan. Complex hip, gable roof features plain boxed cornice. House has at least 6 brick chimney, windows that can be seen from the street are double hung, 6/6 and 2/1; some of them have peaked surrounds, some have louvered shutters. Front (Horry Ave. side - W elev.) assymetrical. Entrance is at N end - a single door with peahed surrounds.entrance is sheltered by a porch with Roman Ionic Columns alustrad with turned balusters; location entrance is articulated by a supported by a pediment and paired columns; the porch ext. from over the entrance around the WW corner of the house. The S end of the house is 2 stories and has smaller windows (which are 6/6) than the 1 story N end, which has 2/2 windows. The projection to the S of the entrance. The 1 story section between it and the st. South end features 6/6 and 2/2 windows with peabed surrounds. North side - features window and door openings with peabed surrounds. E side - can't be seen from street because of high wall and vegetation. OUTBUILDINGS: frame building to N. of house
Historical Information:
After two of his sons died of diptheria, Edward Balmer Henderson thought that the low and boggy area where his home was situated had something to no 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 owned it until her death in 1975. The source of Mrs. Niblack's (Helen Cudahy) wealth was a meat packing fortune. Mr. Niblack was a stock broker and also a fine cabinet maker. Mrs. Niblack's sister, Narcissa T hire, is noted for her collection of doll house furnishings now housed in the Chicago Fine Arts Institute.
Source of Historical Information:
Dorothv K. MacDowell "Let’s Pretend Built on 'Low Spot'"An Aiken Scrapbook, Vol. 1, 1982, LSCOG survey files.
Survey:
Aiken - City - Winter Colony Historic Districts Survey, 1982
Archives Location:
Box 11, Series 108042, Survey of historic resources (county by county data on surface properties), circa 1971-2014
