John Mark Verdier House Beaufort, South Carolina
National Register of Historic Places Data
John Mark Verdier House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places with the following information, which has been imported from the National Register database and/or the Nomination Form . Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since listing.
- National Register ID
- 71000746
- Date Listed
- August 19, 1971
- Name
- Verdier, John Mark, House
- Other Names
- Lafayette Building
- Address
- 801 Bay St.
- City/Town
- Beaufort
- County
- Beaufort
- State
- South Carolina
- Category
- building
- Level of Sig.
- state
- Years of Sig.
- c. 1795
- Areas of Sig.
- ARCHITECTURE
Description
Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.
The house is frame with clapboarding. It has two stories on an elevated stuccoed tabby basement. The roof is hipped. On the front is a double-tiered portico.
The interior, which follows a modified Adam style, has the traditional center hall with drawing room on the right, dining room on left and two additional rooms behind. In the hall, an archway frames the staircase.
On the landing is a handsome Palladian window. From the landing a divided stairway leads to the second floor where there is a large ballroom with a retiring room.
Exceptionally fine, handcarved mantels featuring allegorical figures, ribbons, fruit, flowers and sheaves of wheat. The moldings and cornices are beautifully decorated.
The house is in good condition, and partially restored.
Historic Beaufort Foundation, for which house is headquarters, plans to continue restoration already begun: restoration of elaborate plaster molding scraping and painting of walls, ceilings and mantels in 5 rooms; exterior painting, replacing of porch bannisters and shutters will follow comprehensive restoration plan by Charleston architect Albert Simons. Also planned is restoring of historic garden area, according to Simons plan.
Statement of Significance
Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.
Beaufort landmark since the 1790s, when built by John Mark Verdier. Son of a French Huguenot emigrant, Verdier was a wealthy planter and merchant whose house typified Beaufort's gracious architectural style and was a focal point of the town, providing entertainment for Lafayette during his Southern visit and, in the 1860s, headquarters for Union troops. (Historic Beaufort Foundation has a picture of the house with Union troops in front.)
In the ballroom, Beaufort's first telephone was installed.
The heirs of the builder owned the house until 1940 when it was bought by a committee for the Preservation of the Lafayette Building through public subscriptions. In 1967, this committee founded the Historic Beaufort Foundation, which now owns the house as headquarters, and makes it the focal point of the Historic Beaufort District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
