Joseph Manigault House - Charleston, SC - 19th Century Architecture and Style

Located at 350 Meeting Street, the Joseph Manigualt House is one of two houses that are a part of the Charleston Museum across the street, and is close to the Charleston Visitor Center. The cost of admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased as a package with the museum and the Heyward-Washington House for a discounted price. Open year round, the Joseph Manigault House, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2003, operates on Monday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and on Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The last tour of the House begins at 4:30 pm but visitors can also peruse the House unguided.

This house is part of a package available that includes five houses, an art museum, gardens, and the Charleston Museum. The Charleston Heritage Passport costs $44.95 for access to these locations over a two day period, or $64.95 for access through an entire year.

Joseph Manigault, the original inhabitant of the house, amassed his wealth from plantations and was a representative in South Carolina's state legislature. His brother, Gabriel, was the designer of the Federal-style architecture and also designed the City Hall in Charleston. The National Historic Monument was completed in 1803. The House is an historic representation of Charleston in the early nineteenth century.

Made possible by the booming rice agriculture, the Manigault House portrays the life of a wealthy family in the early 1800s, complete with authentic furniture, back yard garden and several out buildings. Furniture inside the Manigault House is part of the Charleston Museum and contains pieces of the time from America, England and France. Some of these furnishings are known to be owned, originally, by the Manigault family. The out buildings include a kitchen, a privy and slave housing but only their foundations remain. At the center of the garden stands a Gate Temple and a circular stair case inside the house is popular among visitors who want to explore this three story townhouse.

The Manigault family sold the house in 1852 and it subsequently became run down with multiple families living within as tenants. Later, in the early 1900s, the house was in danger of being demolished to make way for a parking lot or gas station. It wasn't until 1920, when Susan Pringle Frost founded the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings, that the house was saved for preservation.

The Charleston Museum received the house in a deed transfer from a wealthy woman, named Mrs. Henrietta Politzer, but it was unable to open it to the public until 1949 due to lack of funds. They then were able to gain back corners of the property that held a gas station and a dry cleaner. When the gas station was in operation it offered free tours of the house with the purchase of a full tank of gas. Mrs. Politzter was also able to donate a few items to get the collection inside the house started, such as the chandelier that hangs in the foyer.

As a holiday bonus, the Joseph Manigault house is decorated by the Garden Club of Charleston for the Christmas season. The Garden Club attempts to only use real flowers that were available to the residents of Charleston in the nineteenth century.