Historic Downtown Charleston SC Real Estate Overview

Buyers Of Downtown Charleston SC Real Estate Enjoy Resort And Urban Living

Charleston, South Carolina is many things to many people, a place where resort living is synonymous with urban living; where the past and present are alive simultaneously. With its unique urban resort lifestyle, Charleston is still the place that many want to come to, and few want to leave.

Historic downtown Charleston may well represent one of most unusual groupings of neighborhoods in the country, featuring a vast array of classically inspired buildings that made it the “little London” of the New World. But the sophisticated eye also notes that the architecture reflects trends that span over the 200 years of the city’s rich history.

Many of city’s earliest homes were made of half-timber, tabby (oyster shell and sand) and pink Bermuda stone (coquina shell). With fire and storms frequently threatening the structures, builders eventually turned to brick and imported stone. Many houses were two or three stories, with the typical Charleston “single house” only one room wide along the street. Piazzas and intricate ironwork were added and subtracted to various floors as years went by. In some areas of the city, the ground floor was likely to house business quarters such as a counting house, storefront or bakery. And in the rear, support buildings, including kitchens, laundries, stables and slave quarters formed a courtyard.

Today’s downtown real estate market melds the Southern aristocratic life of yesterday with the convenience of today in a perfect fit for a variety of lifestyles. Two- to three-story mansions with 11-foot ceilings may feature colossal designed-for-entertaining kitchens, secret gardens, and private porches. In many cases, carriage houses and other outbuildings have been transformed into mother-in-law suites or stand-alone separate properties. Historic downtown Charleston also offers a plenitude of other distinguished residences, from charming brick carriages to contemporary condos strung along the sparkling waterfront, some with views of Waterfront Park or Ashley River’s newest private marina.  //