14 January 2017

Teeny, tiny houses of Charleston - Line St.

Line St., Charleston, SC     
I walked the line this morning - Line St. that is. I did this route last weekend in the dripping rain while today is warm and sunny. Adding to our series of tiny dwelling are these Freedman's cottages. Looking for information on these traditional Charleston cottages I discovered that there is actually a book about them. What a fun book to research.

The Charleston "Freedman's Cottage": An Architectural Tradition
Charleston’s “freedman’s cottages” are some of the most understudied and undervalued vernacular buildings in the city, found as far south as Council Street and as far north as North Charleston. Though these cottages have long been associated with African American history and culture, they in fact extend much further into the history and development of Charleston and deserve to be studied and understood. The predominant theory is that these tiny houses, often no larger than five hundred square feet, were constructed by and for freed slaves after the Civil War, due to a rising need for inexpensive housing. Who occupied these houses over time? What were their lives like? Most of them were ordinary citizens to whom we can all relate. Each one of these houses has at least a hundred stories to tell, many of which have been uncovered and recounted here.

10 comments:

Marcheline said...

Love that color combo! I live in a tiny cottage, but not THAT tiny! 8-)

William Kendall said...

Very neat- they look well cared for.

rob eades said...

Wow!..We seldom get north of Spring.This pushes all my buttons, and a cottage with a proper piazza and a street facing door.I could happily live all my remaining days in that cottage.

Catalyst said...

That house on the right looks weird. Looks like the white door opens onto an open porch.

Suzie Townsend said...

What a lovely piece of Charleston history, Joan. Thank you!

Charlestonjoan said...

This one is tiny! Some of them are a bit bigger.

Charlestonjoan said...

This one does. Folks are buying them and fixing them up.

Charlestonjoan said...

It is a sweetie! There are still quite a few of them on the upper peninsula. Thanks for your comment!

Charlestonjoan said...

That is a clear style here. It adds privacy to the side porch.

Charlestonjoan said...

Hi Suzie! Happy New Year!