Seaside Plantation, Beaufort South Carolina
Seaside plantation house is located on St. Helena's Island, near Beaufort, South Carolina, and is believed to have been built by members of the Fripp family circa 1795 to 1810.
Secondary sources indicate that Captain John Fripp purchased land on St. Helena's Island as early as 1724. Members of his family made gradual additions to these holdings, and by 1860, the Fripp family properties consisted of twelve thousand acres on St. Helena's and the neighboring islands, distributed among twenty plantations. Sea-island cotton was the main crop on all of these plantations; and a new, improved, and highly regarded strain of seed was named for the Fripps.
Representative of these agricultural interests, Seaside plantation produced 22,000 pounds of cotton in 1850 and claimed 122 slaves. It is not known which member of the Fripp family constructed the present house, although Seaside was the residence of Edgar Fripp (1806-1860) during the middle part of the nineteenth century. A prominent planter, Edgar Fripp was active in local civic affairs and served as Justice of the Peace, Justice of the Quorum, Commissioner of Free Schools and Magistrate. In addition, he was an early member of the Southern Rights Association of St. Helena's Parish and was a representative to the local Council of Safety.
Following Edgar Fripp's death, the house passed to his nephew, Edgar W. Fripp, under the guardianship of the latter's father, John Fripp. However, with the coming of the Civil War and the impending take-over of St. Helena's Island by federal authorities, the plantation families fled. In November of 1861, the Sea Islands in the Beaufort area were captured by Union troops and the plantations, including Seaside, were confiscated. Beginning early in 1862, Seaside plantation became a participant in the Port Royal Experiment, a program designed to train the newly freed blacks. During this period the house itself served as a residence for a number of the missionaries, teachers and administrators who took part in the program.
Following the end of the Civil War, Edgar W. Fripp was one of the few plantation owners on St. Helena's Island to regain a portion of his landholdings; in 1872, 732 acres of what had been a 1284-acre plantation in 1860, were returned to him by the federal government. Edgar W. Fripp continued to manage Seaside plantation until 1920, when it was sold as a hunting preserve. The plantation was subsequently purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Henry, who have returned it to a working farm.
Seaside plantation had a significant part in the Port Royal Experiment. It has consequently been associated with individuals prominent in both the abolitionist movement and the movement to educate freed blacks. The Port Royal Experiment was a program of the federal government, begun in March of 1862 and focused on the Sea Islands off the South Carolina coast. It was an effort to train and educate newly released slaves in order to prove their effectiveness as free laborers; hence, it was an experimental prototype for what would be implemented during Reconstruction. Seaside was one of the plantations which directly participated in the Experiment and had as its labor superintendent, Charles Ware of Boston, who also resided there. Richard Soule, General Superintendent of the Port Royal Experiment for St. Helena's and Ladies Islands, lived at Seaside, as did Charlotte Forten, missionary, teacher, and member of a prominent Philadelphia black abolitionist family.
The architectural significance of Seaside plantation house derives in part from its survival as one of only a few remaining antebellum plantation houses out of approximately fifty-four plantations on St. Helena's Island and in part from its architectural form which reflects a transitional status between the Georgian and the Federal styles. Among the outstanding architectural features of the house are the one-story hipped roof portico, tripartite windows, cantilevered elliptical stair and the Adam-style decoration of the first floor right front room.
Also located within the Seaside acreage are four dependencies. Of particular note is the concrete and oyster shell silo, which is believed to date from the early twentieth century.
Site Description
Located on St. Helena's Island, near Beaufort, South Carolina, the Seaside plantation house is believed to have been constructed by members of the Fripp family circa 1795 to 1810.
In form, the house as originally constructed was basically rectangular with a center extension projecting from the rear of the second story. The rear facade of the structure was subsequently squared out by the later addition of a room at both the right rear and left rear corners of the second story. Presently, the house is basically symmetrical and is comprised of a story rectangular block with a single-story ell on its right facade.
The beaded clapboard structure features a medium hipped roof and is set on high brick piers; a number of the piers have been enclosed to form a partial basement. Brickwork is stretcher bond. The original shingle roof has been replaced by a tin roof; encircling the roof line is a boxed cornice with dentil detail.
On each story, the front facade is distinguished by a wide central bay flanked by two side bays at both right and left. Fenestration is 9/9, except in the middle bay of the second story, which contains a tripartite window with movable sash. The main entrance, located in the middle bay of the first floor, consists of a wide, single door; sidelights on paneled pedestals flanked by fluted architrave trim with ancones; a cornice with gouged and dentil detail; and, an elliptical traceried fanlight with dentil detail. This facade is dominated by a tall, one-story hipped roof portico, which extends across the entire length and features six tapered piers and a balustrade. Originally, the portico was partially enclosed with fixed louvers; screening was later added to completely enclose the portico.
Both side facades were originally comprised of three bays on each story beneath the hipped roof and a fourth bay on the first story beneath a shed roof. Circa 1925, the shed roof was removed, and a second story was added to the fourth bay.
The original bays on the side facades contain 9/9 windows, except on the first floor of the left facade, which features 6/6 sash; the later bays contain 3/1 windows. Attached to the fourth bay of the right facade and also believed to have been added circa 1925 is a single-story ell with gable roof and end porch.
The rear facade is divided into five bays. It is distinguished by a wide central bay corresponding to the original projecting two-story stair wing, flanked by two side bays to both right and left. The stair wing features a tripartite window with movable sash on the second floor and a gable roof with end pediment above. On the second story, the flanking bays of the corner additions at right and left contain 3/1 windows. On the first floor, the original shed-roofed porch, later enclosed, is attached to the central and right portions of the facade.
The left portion of the first-floor facade features two 9/9 windows.
The original portion of the house consists of a symmetrical plan with a central hall flanked by two large front rooms on each floor and by two small rear rooms on the first floor; to the rear of the central hall is located a two-story stair wing. Modern alterations to this section of the house have been minimal. A free-standing arched niche has been added to the first floor right front room; and, a pass-through and a door have been cut through the wall between the first-floor left rear room and the enclosed porch. Later additions are comprised of two small rear rooms on the second floor, each containing a bathroom and closets; and, a single story ell projecting from the right facade, consisting of a bedroom, bathroom and closets.
Federal influences are reflected in the architectural style of the interior. On the first floor, the hall is divided by a plaster elliptical arch, framed in wood and flanked by engaged fluted pilasters; on the second floor, the hall is divided by a round arch. Both halls retain wide baseboards, plain wainscoting, reeded chair rail and boxed cornice with dentil detail. The cantilevered elliptical stair is characterized by thin, square unarticulated balusters and by stringers with decorative rosettes. All four front rooms contain original wide baseboards, paneled wainscoting, reeded chair rail, boxed cornice with dentil detail and elaborate Federal mantels. Of particular note is the Adam-style decoration of the first floor right front room. It includes: a deep cornice with modillions, dentil detail and gougework; both door and window moldings and built-in, round-arched cupboards with engaged fluted pilasters, gougework, and full entablature with gougework and rosette detail; mantel with architrave guilloches and applied stuccowork frieze; and, overmantel with painted elliptical panel surrounded by carved and gouged detail and flanked by corbels and guilloches.
Seaside is located on the edge of an ocean marsh, in a rural, agricultural setting. Located near the house are four dependencies. These consist of the original, brick-lined well, situated to the rear of the house; a clapboard shed, located to the right of the well; a large barn with Clapboard siding and tin roof, situated to the right rear of the well; and, a round concrete and oyster shell silo, located to the left rear of the well. The shed, barn and silo are believed to date from the early part of this century.