Lucas, Jonathan, House
National Register Listing
Street Address:
286 Calhoun St., Charleston, SC (Charleston County)
Alternate Name:
Jonathan Lucas
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817710100
Description and Narrative:
The Jonathan Lucas House, built between 1803 and 1809, is an excellent example of the Adamesque style of architecture. Particularly notable are the fine entrance doorway and the winding staircase, woodwork and plaster work of the interior. The builder was a member of a prominent lowcountry family of mill builders and rice planters, and initiated technical advancements in rice milling which helped establish it as a major industry in America and Europe. As well as being the main family residence, the house served as headquarters for a complex of rice and lumber mills which Jonathan Lucas, Jr. and his family operated on the present grounds of Roper Hospital. The three-story house is five bays wide and four bays deep with a low hip roof concealed by a parapet. All construction is of brick and stuccoed. The main portion of the house has a heavy cornice with foliated modillions and a frieze with dentils. Front façade is dominated by three tiers of piazzas, with fluted Doric columns on the basement and first levels and fluted Ionic columns on the second level; balustrades with urn-shaped balusters on the first and second levels, and cornices with dentils on the first and second levels. A double flight of marble steps, with iron railings and a rusticated masonry base, ascends to the first piazza level. The entrance has an elaborate door surround with elliptical fanlight, sidelights, and rich Adamesque ornamentation. Listed in the National Register February 23, 1978.
Period of Significance:
1887;19th century
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Agriculture;Industry;Invention;Social History
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
February 23 1978
