John Dewberry's Historical Charleston Home | Open House TV
We're in Charleston, South Carolina for a look at a restored townhome designed by John Dewberry, former quarterback at Georgia Tech. The historical home was completely reimagined to pay tribute to its past, incorporating many original details in its design. The result is a home that feels sophisticated but never precious, both inside and out.
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- Hi, I'm John Dewberry, developer, preservationist, and welcome to my home here in Charleston, South Carolina. It's a pre-revolutionary home first built in 1770. In about 2003, we decided that we would take the home back to 1770. Most everything was approved by myself before we actually put it in the home. So come on in, and let's take a look.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC]
Right off the foyer to your left, what most people refer to as their living room, we refer to it as our music and art room. We have a Steinway piano that was signed by Van Cliburn. And then we have many art pieces here-- some with color, but many charcoals because I like the minimalist value of those.
When we bought the home, it had actually been a grocery store for over 100 years, and people all over Charleston have these great stories about getting their first beer or stealing candy from Pete's. These were 14 foot floor to ceiling, so we raised the floor two feet here, had to change the windows and bring those up, went and got beveled glass from Germany, and rebuilt all of the fireplaces which was one of the toughest tasks. It gives a real strong nod to the era which this home is from.
In the main dining room, we made it a little bit more casual. This table, you can see, is from Brazil and looks like it's been beat up because it's old. You can be comfortable having pizza on this dining room table, or you can have caviar and champagne. I like a lot of presidents, but one of my favorite presidents is George Washington, and I have this unsigned Gilbert Stuart.
And then, of course, the two hunt boards on both sides of the room are actually both from the Revolutionary era that this home was built, as is this French wallpaper that is from the 1770s as well. The kitchen house was the biggest preservation project of the entire house which was an enormous one in and of itself.
When I purchased the house, there was actually a second floor and in-law suite. I decided I wanted to make this one big enormous volume. If you look around, you'll see the different colors of stucco and brick. We did the same technology that they did back in the 1770s in terms of creating this tabby which is Portland cement and oyster shell.
You also see the hurricane rods. They're not just for show as you'll see in some folk's house, these are actually holding these walls up. We like to use each room in the house, and we certainly get a great deal of use out of the kitchen. We like to sit here and read by the fireplace, have the coffee with the dogs. We also wanted to make the island a place where we could commune, so you can see we have a long row here of eight chairs, or you can head outside to our Meeting Street courtyard and dine al fresco.
Now, we're in the Cypress Room, really probably my personal favorite in the entire house. I spend a lot of time here reading, smoking an occasional cigar. The walls in here are from the pre-revolutionary era. We're not exactly sure how old, but probably 250- to 300-year-old cypress wood.
I elected to peel the paint off of the wall and give it a flecked look. You'll see a lot of juxtaposition in this room of old and new. Of course, the 13-star flag as well as two 18th century leather chairs juxtaposed against a modern sofa, a modern ottoman. We spend most every night here before retiring to the bedroom.
And this is our bedroom. And one of the many influences is from the Caribbean. And so this bed here is from Jamaica, and these two chairs here are campaign chairs from Barbados. In this room, unlike the Cyprus Room, we actually kept the paint intact and went over it with an antique white.
Through the French doors is our bathroom suite. We have a huge tub that I put in the middle of the room so I can lounge in there and open up the French doors and smoke a cigar. I was never formally trained, so I don't know what you're not supposed to do or supposed to do. So when the designers showed me two great 1950s minks chairs, I said, those are going in my bathroom.
[OLD-TIME MUSIC]
In a city as old as Charleston, it is clear that preservation is tantamount. So thanks for stopping by and allowing us to share our preserved pre-revolutionary home.
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