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Survey of
Historic Sites and Buildings

	ROBERT BREWTON HOUSE South Carolina
Location: 71 Church Street, Charleston.

Ownership and Administration (1961). Private.

Significance. The Robert Brewton House, built about 1730 by the prominent Miles Brewton for his son, has survived two wars and two major fires to achieve a unique double distinction. Besides being one of the oldest surviving Charleston houses, it is the earliest accurately dated example of the "single house," an architectural type peculiar to that city. The "single house" shows traces of West Indian influence and is a fine example of the adaptation of structural design to climatic conditions. As the name suggests, the "single house" is of single-room thickness. It stands with its long axis perpendicular to the street, and along one of the long sides (generally the south or west) runs a piazza, overlooking a small enclosed garden. The entrance is through a gate on the street end of the piazza. Thick walls of brick, covered with white or pastel-tinted stucco, are topped by tile roofs. The piazza, which during the 18th century was of wood and only one story high, evolved during the 19th century into the two-story appendage so familiar in present-day Charleston. This design admirably served its purpose of making the hot South Carolina summers bearable and, coupled with the town's sea breezes and the relative absence of malaria, made Charleston the summer-time mecca of the plantation families.

Present Appearance (1961). The Robert Brewton House has undergone little exterior change, except that the piazza has been removed (necessitating a new entrance treatment) and there is no side garden. Three stories high, there are angle quoins, key blocks over the windows, and a wrought-iron balcony on the street front. The mantelpieces and other interior woodwork show fine workmanship. The house is well maintained and in the best of condition. It is not open to visitors. [70]