On April 1, 1923 construction began on the Fort Sumter Hotel, 1 King Street Charleston, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Guests were accepted in April of 1924 and the formal opening of the hotel was May 6, 1924. This Spanish Colonial-style building was designed by G. Lloyd Preacher of Atlanta, Georgia and built at a cost of $850,000. In 1973 the hotel was purchased for redevelopment from Sheraton Hotels for the same amount of $850,000 and converted to a condominium, the Fort Sumter House.
History of the Fort Sumter Hotel
At the turn of the century, the waterfront area of Charleston had been neglected for years and was made up of broken-down, deteriorated commercial wharves and marshes. However, in 1909 the city began an ambitious project to fill the area consisting of 47 acres around the southern tip of the Charleston peninsula and create scenic Murray Boulevard with a promenade along the battery under the direction of Robert G Rhett, the fiftieth mayor of Charleston. The City as part of this project sold 191 lots for homes to be built, constructed the seawall and donated the land for the Fort Sumter Hotel to be built.
After three hundred years, Charleston had its first waterfront hotel overlooking the Ashley River and White Point Garden. The early twentieth century brought economic resurgence to the historic city and this luxurious seven story Fort Sumter Hotel became a landmark at the tip of the peninsula with its spacious lobbies, sun parlor and terraces. The second floor featured a grand ballroom and lounge. In the roaring twenties, local families began to enjoy debutante parties and wedding receptions at the hotel. Guests staying in the 200 plus rooms enjoyed amazing views of the Charleston Harbor and rivers and also panoramic views overlooking the enchanting architecture of the surrounding 18th and 19th century mansions throughout the South of Broad district.
The Fort Sumter Hotel also had a number of famous guests through the years. In February 1942, John F Kennedy spent three nights at the hotel with a woman named Inga Arvad that he met through his sister, Kathleen. Inga was a beauty queen, Miss Denmark, and journalist . Adolf Hitler described her as the “perfect Nordic beauty”. However, because of her ties with Hitler, the FBI suspected she was a Nazi spy and began to watch her. At the time, JFK was a naval officer and his father had him transferred to Charleston to distance him from Ingrid Arvad. The two kept in contact and Inga would visit JFK in Charleston. When they spent several nights together in the Fort Sumter Hotel in February of 1942, they stayed in room 132, which was bugged by the FBI. Later, JFK’s father after getting word of their encounters had his son reassigned to a PT boat in the Pacific.
In July 1942, the Fort Sumter Hotel was used as the headquarters for the sixth Naval District until 1945. The Navy paid $80,000 a year during this period to rent the property. The hotel was refurbished and reopened as a hotel in 1946. In April 1947 another famous guest, Tennessee Williams and Agent Audrey Wood met with Irene Selznick at the hotel to discuss her producing Williams newest play, a Streetcar Named Desire. Williams hand wrote scenes for the play on the hotel stationary.
In 1949 Alfred Hutty, an American artist and one of the leading figures in Charleston Renaissance, completed a mural of the Attack on Fort Sumter for the lobby of the Fort Sumter Hotel. Throughout the 1950s, Hutty’s works were on permanent exhibit at the hotel. Although his original mural was removed from the hotel and moved to a museum, the residents of the Fort Sumter House condominium just last year commissioned a reproduction of the mural for the lobby of the building. As you enter the front of the building, the mural can be immediately seen across the lobby.
In 1967, the hotel was sold to Sheraton Corporation for $435,000. Sheraton spent $500,000 renovating the Fort Sumter Hotel and they were the last owner to run the property as a hotel.
History of the Fort Sumter House
A group of local investors purchased the property in 1973 for the same price it had cost to build the property some 50 years prior. The investors spent $2 million to convert the 225 hotel rooms to 67 condominiums. This conversion to a condominium was a notable example of adaptive reuse in historic downtown Charleston. Adaptive reuse is the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed. Today this process continues throughout the downtown area and facilitates preservation of the historic buildings.
The Fort Sumter House condominium is a mixed use development. The first floor condominiums can be used for commercial purposes or residential. One unit on the first floor is currently used as an architectural firm while the other units are currently used as residential condominiums. However, the Master Deed of the Fort Sumter House and the zoning rules allow these ground floor units to be switched back and forth from commercial use to residential use at any time. The units on floors 2-7 can only be used for residential purposes.
The Fort Sumter House is the only high-rise structure South of Broad and adorns the tip of the peninsula. Many Charlestonians refer to the Fort Sumter House as the “grande dame.” It is a landmark of the city with architectural prominence and distinction. Current zoning regulations prohibit the construction of any other structures of this height in the area.
Architectural Description of the Property
The prominent Spanish Colonial Revival-style architecture of the property with much design and detail has been admired by many over the years. When constructed, the building was the tallest and only luxury hotel on the peninsula. The building was designed by G. Lloyd Preacher of Atlanta, Georgia, a major figure in southeastern architecture history. Geoffrey Lloyd Preacher was born on May 11, 1882, in Fairfax, South Carolina and a graduate of Clemson University. After moving to Atlanta, the city became the hub for his developing southeastern practice. His firm, G. Lloyd Preacher and Company, built prominent works, in Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina, including a number of hotels. In Atlanta, Preacher’s projects were large and conspicuous. Preacher used traditional spanish colonial features for the Fort Sumter Hotel with some mediteranean elements.. The traditional spanish colonial features include a low pitch roof, half round arches, stucco walls, windows and doors and plaster interior walls. Although the roof is flat, it is surrounded by a terracotta “eye-lash” and stucco frieze. The use of terracotta is very common in spanish colonial buildings. Spanish Colonial homes typically feature a terracotta roof. In this case, the terracotta along the roof on the historic building adds a unique detail that can only suggest the Spanish Colonial style. There are tall arches along the ground floor, traditional Spanish Colonial features, along with the medallions under the top windows on the seventh floor. The sprawling symmetrical facade and stucco features are typical mediterranean elements that are included. Additionally, the lobby was designed with pinkish beige marble flooring throughout. This feature still remains. The original corridor from the front door to the back of the building was known as “Peacock Alley”
The Spanish Colonial Revival style is rooted in the Mediterranean Revival style. In the 1880’s three prominent luxury hotels were built in St. Augustine, Florida with this Spanish influence, the Ponce de Leon Hotel, Alcazar Hotel and Casa Monica Hotel. The architecture style of these elaborately detailed hotels greatly influenced the hotel architects of the era.
Identifiable Modifications
Upon conversion of the Fort Sumter Hotel to the Fort Sumter House condominium a number of architectural features were added and some were modified. Most noticeable, on the westside of the building eight 6’ x 10’ larger terraces were added. Additionally 31 very small juliette balconies were added to the west, south and east sides of the building. These terrace and balconies have wrought iron railings in keeping with the mediterran architectural style. All the windows adjacent to the added terraces and balconies have been changed to floor to ceiling sliding glass doors with. transoms above.
The hotel’s original green and white striped awning on the front of the building was replaced with a black hotel awning that came down the steps to the street so that hotel guests were protected from rain and other inclement weather. In 2015 the Fort Sumter House applied to the Board of Architectural Rreview to go back to the original style minimalistic awning. The front of the FSH now has a small green awning, very similar to the original awning. There were also originally terracotta tiles at the front on the steps and landing at the front door. In 2015, the Fort Sumter House Association received approval from BAR to replace the tile which was in disrepair with bluestone. Many other historic buildings in Charleston have bluestone
The docks that extended from Murray Boulevard out into the water used by the hotel guests arriving by boat and used for sunbathing and swimming were removed in the early 1970s just before the hotel closed.
As a hotel, the first floor was all public and commercial spaces, including an arcade and sunroom along the water with ceiling heights 15 feet high. The second floor with 10 foot ceilings housed the ballroom, banquet rooms and restaurant. Floors 3-7 housed the hotel rooms for guests and have 9 foot ceilings.
When the building was converted to a condominium, the first floor was modified to have six condominium units, the lobby, exercise room, mailroom and utility room. The second floor was converted to all condominiums, some with roof terraces. Floors 3-7 also have condominium units, but they are slightly smaller than those on the second floor, respectively. Later, owners of units on the ground floor were able to construct loft areas due to the expansive ceiling heights. These owners effectively have been able to almost double the square footage of their units. When the building was converted in the 70s, the ground floor units were not very desirable as residential units. Today, however, these units are some of the most expensive and desirable in the building,
Condition of the Building
Currently the Fort Sumter House is in the process of completing some major capital repair projects. The building will be coming up on its 100 year anniversary soon and with age comes much required maintenance and repairs. The eight, 6’ x 10’ terraces that were added in the 70s, as well as the thirty-one juliet balconies had all recently become structurally unsound. The Fort Sumter House Homeowners Association is in the process of having these structures replaced.
In the historic district in Charleston, repairs and construction projects to the building must be approved by the Board of Architectural Review. BAR dates back to 1931 when it was enacted by city ordinance. BAR‘s job originally was to ensure that traditional building styles continued throughout the historic district in Charleston. With Charleston becoming more and more a center for hospitality and tourism, BAR’s job of promoting and protecting preservation becomes more critical. Today BAR’s role has expanded to also reviewing proposed demolition of buildings within the historic district to ensure that no structures of architectural significance are ever destroyed.
The Board of Architectural Review approved new terraces and balconies for the Fort Sumter House that are made from lighter, stronger materials that will require less maintenance, but still preserve the original style of the structures. The westside of the building is currently covered in scaffolding so that the work can be completed. Also, the stucco coating of the building is being largely repaired and painted due to cracks that developed over time and began to allow leaks. The terracotta tiles around the top of the building were old, loose and needed to be removed as well. The Fort Sumter House Homeowners Association is in the process of obtaining approval by the Board of Architectural Review to restore the tile and repair the frieze just below it. There is much work ahead over the next six months to a year to complete these projects. However, even after the current restoration project is complete, the Grande Dame will continue to require much maintenance and care to preserve and retain its continued prominence and distinction as Charleston’s crowning landmark on the battery at the tip of the Charleston peninsula.
By: Grant Smith October 2019