The Paul Hamilton House, commonly referred to as the Brick House Ruins, is the

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of a 1725

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

Edisto Island Edisto Island is one of South Carolina's Sea Islands, the larger part of which lies in Charleston County, with its southern tip in Colleton County. Edisto Beach is in Colleton County, and the Charleston County part of the island is unincorpor ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, that burned in 1929. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1970 for the unusual architecture of the surviving walls, which is partly based on

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

architecture of the period.

Construction

The house was constructed about 1725 for Paul Hamilton, a wealthy South Carolina planter, on

, one of the

Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of over a hundred tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States, between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The la ...

in what was then the

Province of South Carolina The Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies i ...

. The two-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

house was constructed with exterior walls of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

imported from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, such brick being harder and denser than the local kind. The interior of the home was primarily constructed of locally produced

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

which had been aged seven years. Construction also utilized local

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

brought to the site from the Pon Pon.

Architecture

Its architectural design is in keeping with

American colonial architecture American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the Colonial history of the United States, colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), Spanish Colonial, French Colon ...

but exhibits

influence. Possibly a simplified copy of the c. 1675 Chateau de la Haye d'Esquermes near Loos les Lille,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, evidence of the French influence in its architecture is seen through many stucco enrichments to the exterior and its high-pitched roof.

History

It served as the plantation house for a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

. The estate was acquired in 1798 by the Jenkins family which maintains ownership to this day. In 1929 the house caught fire, with its wooden portion largely reduced to ashes and only its brick walls with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

and

trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

remaining. Until that time, it had not been significantly altered. The

was recorded photographically as part of the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

cataloged at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in both 1936 and 1939. It was declared a

and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on 15 April 1970. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History published a summary of the site as a part of

South Carolina history South Carolina was one of the Thirteen Colonies that first formed the United States. European exploration of the area began in April 1540 with the Hernando de Soto expedition, which unwittingly introduced diseases that decimated the local Native ...

. They describe it as an artifact of important early French influence in the Carolinas, considered a "stately and picturesque ruin in its own right." They cite the architecture of the outer walls as being "unique in this country."

Preservation efforts

Following the fire of 1929, some stabilization was performed. Metal supports were used to brace some openings, but their expansion over time has actually damaged some of the material. In addition, the two chimneys (shown in the main photo above) had their top portions removed to prevent damaging the walls in case of collapse. In February 2013, the National Park Service considered the ruins to be in "emergency" condition due to the major cracks and deformation of the south wall. In 2018, the structure was stabilized. Preservation efforts are ongoing.

References

External links

*
Brick House Ruins, Charleston County (Edisto Island)
at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
Application
for placement on the

on file with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History * {{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Houses in Charleston County, South Carolina Ruins on the National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1725 Plantation houses in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Charleston County, South Carolina Burned houses in the United States 1725 establishments in South Carolina Former buildings and structures in South Carolina