Old House Plantation

National Register Listing
Street Address:
Near Co. Rd 768, Edisto Island, SC (Charleston County)

NRHP Nomination

Record Number:
S10817710036
Description and Narrative:
Probably one of the oldest houses on Edisto Island, the Old House Plantation predates the Revolutionary period and has a floor plan indicative of that era. Originally a rather small one-and-one half story house with a gable roof and on a basement-height brick supports, the house was likely built by William Jenkins between 1735 and 1760. The house reflects architectural trends in the three centuries of its existence: basic pre-Revolutionary country house design, nineteenth century Greek Revival with touches of Adamesque, as in the symmetry of slender windows to each side of the front doorway, and twentieth century additions of a modern kitchen, bathrooms, central air conditioning and heating. The exterior was extensively altered in the first half of the nineteenth century by the addition of a porch with Tuscan columns at front and engaged columns at rear, the porch covered by a pediment with a keystoned fanlight, two front dormers, Palladian front door with keystoned fanlight, and original boarding between brick supports to form the basement, later replaced by open header brickwork. The commissary was constructed ca. 1898 to serve three plantations: Old House, Oak Island, and Cassina Point. It is a one-story, with loft, rectangular, weatherboard-clad building with a front-gable roof. Listed in the National Register May 14, 1971.
Period of Significance:
1735 – 1760;18th century
Level of Significance:
State
Area of Significance:
Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
May 14 1971