MANY-GABLED HOUSE

MT. CARMEL, SOUTH CAROLINA

 

I don't know when this thing was built; probably 1880 to 1890. It has gone through many changes in the succeeding years, and I'm going to blather about some of them.

The lines of the house appear to be original, with the numerous gables topped with five-vee metal roofing pointing to the sky on three sides. I doubt that the metal was the original roof; most homes this age and style had either cedar shakes or standing-seam terne metal roofs. I imagine the roof is less than sixty years old.

I especially like the huge front gable, which is supported by four bark-stripped pine tree trunks. The front windows in the gable suggest a large room up there, but the lack of dormers would make this east-facing window bank ineffective anywhere but directly in back of them. There is a tiny triangular vent on the south side, though; undoubtedly to keep the attic-dwelling children from asphyxiating.

I believe the tree-columns and porch are replacements of a more substantial tongue-in-groove deck and turned-column porch that disintegrated somewhere in the dim past; porches are the first architecture to suffer in old houses. The rear window on the south side is also a likely replacement, as it has nine-over-nine lites while the remainder are four-over-fours.

Keeping with Southern tradition, however, are the ubiquitous deepfreeze on the porch and asphalt roll that pretends to be stone as an exterior finish. I really like the lines of the house, though, especially the huge windows so close to the floor.

The front door is rather Craftsmanesque, with its three vertical lites. It is possible that the entire structure was cobbled together from other structures since demolished.