Drayton Hall
National Register Listing
Street Address:
12 mi. W of Charleston on SC 61 (Charleston County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817710005
Description and Narrative:
Drayton Hall is without question one of the finest of all surviving plantation houses in America. Its early date, 1738-42, makes its architectural sophistication all the more remarkable. It is far in advance of the great Virginia Georgian plantation houses for which those of South Carolina have a natural affinity. Because Drayton Hall has been barely touched with “improvement” in the ensuing 200 years, it remains for us one of the most treasured of eighteenth century structures. John Drayton, a member of the King’s Council, acquired the land on which Drayton Hall was built in 1738. Perhaps because of their relatively comfortable position in South Carolina society at this early date, the Drayton’s were able to invest in the house a degree of architectural elaboration very rare in America in the first half of the eighteenth century. The house has a most distinctive monumentality achieved through its spacious four room plan and the somewhat vertical proportions of its two-story elevation on a high English basement capped by a double hipped roof. The land side (west) of the house features a carefully proportioned projecting two-story pedimented portico with superposed Doric and Ionic orders. The river façade lacks a projecting portico, but it has a classical central pediment to emphasize the main axis. Most of the rooms on the inside are fully paneled and the mantel pieces and classical cornices throughout are the highest quality. The house further features rich plaster detailing in the ceilings, and a remarkable fully paneled richly carved double staircase. Listed in the National Register October 15, 1966; Designated a National Historic Landmark October 9, 1960.
Period of Significance:
1742;1738 – 1742;18th century
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Architecture
National Register Determination:
National Historic Landmark
Date of Certification:
October 15 1966
Date of Certification as a National Historic Landmark:
October 9 1960
