Savannah Victorian Historic District, 818 Drayton Street (House), Savannah

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,53J-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This three-story structure, unusual for its height, was built as part of a complex of four structures. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: On June 10, a building permit for four three-story apartment houses was issued to J.E. Tussey. 2. Architect: Hot known. 3. Original owner: J.E. Tussey, General Yard Master of the Central of Georgia Railroad. The house stands on the south half of Lot 4, section 10, Cuthbert Ward. For background information, see Savannah Victorian Historic District, GA-1169. B.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,53J-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Cuthbert Ward Research Book, located at Georgia Historical Society. City Directory, City of Savannah, located at Georgia Historical Society. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey October, PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural character: This is a triple decker, frame apartment house with Edwardian details, a type that is rare in the Victorian District. 2. Condition of fabric: Poor. 818 DRAYTON STREET HABS No. GA-1169J (.Page 2) B. Description of Exterior: 1. Overall dimensions: The three-story structure measures across its three-bay front by deep. The north wall adjoins a similar three-story unit. 2. Foundations: Brick pier foundations over a crawl space. 3. Wall construction: Clapboard siding. 4.

Structural system: Wood frame construction. 5. Porches, steps: A three-tfered wooden deck, approached by six stone steps, is built across the northern two cays of the west (front) facade. Box columns support the canopies and upper- level floors. Turned balusters extend between the columns. The rear entrances of each apartment are fronted by wooden land- ings, and connected to one another by plain frame steps. 6. Chimneys: Two brick chimneys with tapered caps. 7. Openings: a. Doors: The front door is a plain hollow-core door with a plywood surround. The rear doors are raised-panel wooden doors, one at each landing. b. Windows: One-over-one-light double-hung windows. Two floor- length windows open out to the front porches at each level. Simple cornices top the windows.

Two-over-two-light windows are in the rear facade. 8. Roof: a. Shape, covering: The main block has a hip roof covered with standing seam tin sheating. A pedimented gable roof covers the porch. b. Cornice, eaves: The main block has a deep bracketed cornice with a wide paneled frieze. A tin cornice is attached to the rear section. C, Description of Interior: 1. Floor plan: The apartments are two rooms wide and three rooms deep. Each floor is a separate apartment. 2. Stairways: A common stairhall serves all three floors of 818 Drayton as well as Turned and tapered spindles terminate in a square paneled newel1. The walls are covered with waist- high horizontal wood paneling. 3. Flooring: Many of the original hardwood floors have been covered with vinyl tile. 818 DRAYTON STREET HABS No.

GA-1169J (Page 3} 4. Wall and ceiling finish: The plaster walls are being covered with pre-finished plywood paneling. Most of the ceilings have been dropped to the level of the picture moldings. 5. Doorways, doors: Host of the interior doors are four-panel wooden doors framed by plain surrounds and paneled transoms. The front parlors are separated by double doors topped by paneled transoms. 6. Decorative features and trim: The standard fireplace mantel in the apartments is classical in design with an overmantel and mirror. An egg and dart molding trims the edge of the mantel shelf, supported by console brackets. The coal grate inset in the opening has torches in the surround. The surrounds are inlaid with tile mottled brown, white, red and green. 7. Hardware: Brass door knobs. 8.

Mechanical systems: a. Heating: The house is heated by fireplaces and gas space heaters. b. Lighting: Electrical wiring. 9. Notable furniture: The pantry of each apartment has a built-in cabinet with two doors on the lower half and four shelves above. D. Site: The structure faces west and is the corner unit of a row of three apart- ment buildings. The road is built to the lot line; thus there are no yards. The sidewalk is paved in alternating blue and white hexagonal paving stone. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey October, PART III.

PROJECT INFORMATION This project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey in cooper- ation with the City of Savannah, the Historic Preservation Section of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, Inc., and Historic Savannah Foundation. The recording project was completed dur- ing the summer of under the general direction of John Poppeliers, Chief of HABS; Kenneth L.

Anderson, Principal Architect; Eric Delony, Project Coordinator, Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, Inc.; Beth Lattimore Reiter, Project Historian, Savannah Landmark: Rehabilitation Project, Inc.; and Sus:an Dornbusch, Project Supervisor, University of Virginia; with student architects Gregori Ander- son (Howard University), David Fixler (Columbia University), Stephen Lauf (Temple University), and Tamara Peacock (University of Florida), at the HABS Office in Savannah, Georgia. The drawings were edited in the Washington office in September by architects Susan Dornbusch and Gregori Anderson. The historical and archi- tectural data was reviewed and edited during October-November by staff histo- rian Jan Cigliano.

Photographs were taken in September by Walter Smalling, a staff photographer with the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. The doc- umentation on the historic district will be used in the rehabilitation of the resi- dences and in developing design guidelines for the area.