Fermata School gymnasium
Historic Property
Alternate Name:
Fermata Club
Street Address:
841 whiskey Road (west side of Whiskey Road, near Knox Avenue), Aiken, SC
Site Number:
S108042001100093
Site Number:
2-10-57(100) / 132-17
Date Surveyed:
1983
Category:
Building
Construction Date:
circa 1929
Historic Use:
Recreation & Culture
Current Use:
Recreation & Culture
Architect or Builder:
contractor - McGhee & McGhee (see building permit)
Construction Method:
stucco over frame
Foundation Materials:
Other
Roof Materials:
composition shingle
Signficant Architectural Features:
Stuccoed frame building with rectangular, two-story core that is encircled on 3 sides by a one-story area. Hip roof has exposed rafters. One stuccoed exterior chimney on its west side, windows are double-hung sash, 6/6. East elevation: first floor - ABCDAAE (A's are triple windows; B is a single door entrance with transom; C is a double window; D is an entrance with single glazed door framed by multi-light rectangular transom and sidelights; over entrance D is a small one-story porch with gable roof and square wooden posts; E is a single door entrance sheltered by a small gable supported by diagonal brackets); second floor features 5 triple windows. North elevation: first floor - ABACAA (A's are single windows; B is a triple window; C is a small frame addition over which is a shed roof supported by brackets - there appears to have once been an entrance here); second floor - AB (A is a triple window; B probably was once a triple window, but not consists of one window and an opening that contains a fan). West elevation: at the north end of the west side is an exterior chimney (mentioned above); on the first floor is a one-story addition with shiplap siding; on the second floor are 4 triple windows. South elevation: at the west end of the south side is a two-story wing that has two small windows on its second floor and, on its first floor, a frame addition which contains windows and a doorway. The east end of the south elevation has a triple window on the second floor; the first floor of the east end cannot be seen clearly from an area accessible to the public. OUTBUILDINGS: Swimming pool (original); tennls courts (not original); utility building (exterior walls - block, foundation - slab, roof - composition shingle)
Historical Information:
The Fermata School was founded in Aiken by Marie Eustis Hofmann with the assistance of such friends as Mrs. Edward Bok (nee Mary Curtis) and a Mr. Porter, who was a New York banker and member of the Aiken colony. In October 1919, the Fermata School for Girls opened on the third floor of the Hofmann home, with five students and four instructors. Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin became involved with the venture in 1921, and the school continued to grow. The estate of Colonel Kuser on Whiskey Road was acquired for a new campus. In 1926, Mr. F. A. M. Tabor, who was the head of the Aiken Preparatory School, was put in charge of the Fermata School.
Source of Historical Information:
City of Aiken building permits - 6/15/29, #75. MacDowell, D. K. An Aiken Scrapbook. Aiken, S.C.: 1982. Vol. 1, p. 141. Smith, H. W. Life and Sport in Aiken. New York: Derrydale Press, 1935. Sanborn maps of Aiken (additional sheet, Oct. 1935).
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
