Ansonborough real estate | Charleston SC Homes for sale

Downtown Charleston - Ansonborough Neighborhood

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Renowned for historic architectural  elegance  amid an atmosphere of cozy serenity,  Ansonborough is among the most delightful and sought-after addresses on the Charleston peninsula.  Quiet, shaded streets feature a range of handsome properties built during the city’s economic and cultural  heyday in 18th and 19th centuries,  including Charleston’s oldest private home,  the Col. William Rhett house, which dates to 1712.

Homes with grand columns and piazzas,  stately pediments and cornices,  intricate wrought iron and garden courtyards,  as well as massive live oaks and cobblestones are treasures found at every turn in an area within a few blocks of the bustling city market and shopping district.

The charming neighborhood was conceived in 1696 as the first suburb of the original walled  city of Charles Town.  It came to be known by its current name for colonial naval officer George Anson, future First Lord of the Admiralty,  who was said to have won rights to the property in a card game with a wealthy local  merchant .

Popular Condominiums and townhomes in Ansonborough: 12 George,

Nationally-recognized  as a model for historic preservation  and rehabilitation in the 1960’s, Ansonborough today retains a distinctive look and feel of Charleston long ago, yet within a short walk of up-scale restaurants,  fine art galleries, libraries and museums, world-class retail ,  and the very heart of a bustling modern city.

Real estate opportunities include expansive single and double houses dating to Georgian and Greek Revival  styles, as well as quaint town and carriage houses and condominiums.
 

South of Broad, Ansonborough, Harleston Village, Mazyck-Wraggsborough, French Quarter, Radcliffborough

Cannonborough, Elliottborough, Midtown, Wagener Terrace, Hampton Park Terrace, Hampstead Village

Notable Homes and Buildings and fun facts:  Tucked away down quiet streets in Ansonborough are some of Charleston’s

most exceptional structures. The William Rhett house at 54 Hasell Street is Charleston’s oldest, dating to 1712, and remarkable in that it avoided a fire that swept the area in 1838, after which many property owners received “fire loans” to build brick homes with incredible detail and beauty. One such building is the old High School of Charleston at 55 Society Street, built in Greek Revival style in 1840, featuring a grand portico of Corinthian columns on a raised basement. The old school building is now divided into up-scale condominiums.

Any one walking down Society Street will be very impressed with the towering facade at number 55. This huge Greek Revival temple-like structure with its Corinthian columns on a high basement stands out noticeably and his a colorful history to match. It was built in 1841 as Charleston’s first public high school, and its rooms rang with the sounds of Greek and Latin. The Charleston elite who attended this school were versed in Mathematics, Maritime Geography, Natural History, Biology, Classic Literature, and Agronomy, but classes were often cut short by epidemics of yellow fever, and numerous students died before graduation. The old building suffered years of neglect after the school was relocated in 1881, and was used as a meeting hall for the Salvation Army. Purchased in 1965 by eccentric Gordon Langely Hall, the building became a furniture museum and was in shabby shape until restored as a condominium in the 1980’s.

Neighborhood Restaurants and Shopping:  Ansonborough features a variety of pleasant dining experiences. At Cru Café, an antebellum single house offers a graceful, cozy setting for lunch and dinner; Anson’s Restaurant and Hank’s Seafood are well-known for fresh catch and shellfish entrees; and at FIG, an impeccable menu and wine list accents the acronym that “food is great”.