Teeny, tiny houses of Charleston

Dressed for fall, Charleston, S.C. 

This is a sweet addition to the teeny, tiny houses of Charleston series and when I backtracked it looks like I took almost the exact same shot around this time last year. That happens so often I must have annual routines I am not aware of.

I woke up with dreaded cold symptoms this morning so didn't go for my usual walk-about. I went shopping for cold remedies and hoped that everything promising to shorten the length of the misery would take me back to before it started. I know I am not alone with the sniffles at the moment. Bless us all. Achhhoo. 

Teeny, tiny houses of Charleston

Charleston, SC   

This is a sweetie in the small house series. Sadly I need help remembering what street it was on. I did a Queen, Tradd loop that day. I noted it was 88 1/2 but didn't remember what street. I always assume I will remember everything. Foiled again. 

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.

Teeny, tiny houses - Pawleys Island

Pawleys Island, SC   

 The dreamy little cottages that catch my eye don't always have the most charming histories. 

In the lowcountry they were often slave cabins and that is exactly what this one on Pawleys Island was. The main house is called the LaBruce Lemon House and was built in 1858. There is a bit of history below and we are lucky - since the property is a holiday rental there are images of all the rooms in the house on this real estate page. What a fun tour!

Many thanks to my day-trip partner in crime who pulled to a screeching halt for my photo op. 

Charleston Single House - extreme style!

America St., Charleston, SC   

I hope that FedEx delivery isn't too big. It might not fit in the house. 

This tiny, Charleston single house was built in 1991 by David Hammons as part of a Spoleto site specific art project on the East side. The Charleston City Paper has more information on the project. Happily for me the house remains after all these years. 

Teeny, tiny houses of Charleston - Spring St.

Spring St., Charleston, SC   

I had to resist the urge to straighten out this image because this tiny old house on Spring St. isn't straight to begin with. What a fun little cottage.

The rain from tropical storm Bonnie continued today enough to throw off any major long weekend plans. Blah. I actually did some chores, changed my air filter, hung a picture and bought groceries. How boring is that? Luckily the evening ended on a high note with a home cooked Italian dinner with lots of laughter and good friends. 

Teeny, tiny houses

Sutherland Ct., Charleston, SC    

Here are a couple of little cuties in the smaller scale. I walked the area around Hampton Park on Sunday and spotted them on that tiny cut through street off of Huger. The top one needs some luvin'.

What a beautiful day! I had mid-day meetings at the Mount Pleasant Hospital so got out of the office and enjoyed the freedom. It is crisp and cool at the moment and I am back on my walking routine. I had been sidetracked by a couple of sprains and heel pain but marching onward again.

TV is so dreadful now that I get so sad when I finish a series I enjoy on Netflix. It feels like I will never find anything I care about enough to watch again and then, bingo I find something. This time I latched on to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Fun stuff. It is a change from my recent streak of Nordic detective and police reporter shows.