Dating to 1876, the Calhoun Mansion at No. 16 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina represents one man’s effort to restore pride and grandeur to post-Civil War Charleston . This is not the former residence of the legendary John C. Calhoun (1782-1850). Rather, the Calhoun association with this home is in the personage of grandson Patrick, husband of Sarah Williams, who inherited the home from her parents. George Walton Williams is the man who provided the vision and wealth that produced this magnificent structure. It sits on hallowed ground, having been one of the innumerable places claiming that “George Washington slept here.” In this case, Washington visited a previous structure on this site in 1791.
The Calhoun Mansion is the largest home in Charleston , with 35 delightfully painted and adorned rooms covering over 24,000 square feet of floor space. The Victorian-era mansion includes elements of the Charleston Single House with two-story verandas (locally called “piazzas”) located along its side, yet the home retains a formal front entrance. Inside there is a towering stairwell that rises 75 feet to a dome, a sky-lighted grand ballroom, standard 14-foot ceilings with ornate molding, and a seemingly endless collection of furniture, art, and antique decorative pieces. Though the rooms may feel busy, the ornamentation is captivating when you place it in the context of its owner’s interests and the time periods being portrayed.
Should you wish to stay somewhere equally captivating during your visit, charleston luxury hotels provides a range of choices. Hopefully your surroundings will be as lush and tranquil as the Calhoun Mansion’s grounds which offer an oasis of nature’s charm and man’s ingenuity. Artfully composed pathways flow through a formal garden, fountains, statuary and sculpted greenery. It is easy to forget that you are in a residential neighborhood and feel you have been transported to another time.
Having passed through several owners after Mr. Williams’s death, the home fell into disrepair. It was condemned for occupancy but saved from destruction by a loving owner and resident, Mr. Howe, who spent 25 years and millions of dollars to restore the home in the image of Williams’s dream. We are all richer for that beneficence. In 2004, the ownership shifted to Mr. Stahl who graciously reopened the Mansion and its spectacular contents to the public.
Only a short walk away is Battery Park which looks out over Charleston Harbor toward Fort Sumter, a good destination to charter a cruise to . We must remember to be thankful for sites like Sumter and the Calhoun Mansion that serve to instruct us in our history. Charleston is a beautiful city and the Calhoun Mansion is a gem to be cherished.
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