Borough House, Cook's House, State Route 261 & Garners Ferry Road, Stateburg

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS SC,43-STATBU,1I-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Part of the Borough House plantation complex on west side of State Route 0.8 mile north of intersection of Route 261 and State Route Stateburg, Sumter County, South Carolina U.S.G.S. Wedgefield, SC 7.5 Minute Quadrangle Universal Transverse Mercator (UTE4) Coordinates: Present Owner Richard K. Anderson The Borough House RFD 3 Box 276 Sumter, South Carolina

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS SC,43-STATBU,1I-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Cook's House is a dependency of the Borough House plantation complex. The original portion of the building was built partially of rammed earth c. and is one of six dependencies (in addition to portions of the main house) to be built of this material. This complex is of potential national significance because of the number of early Greek Revival structures it contains which were built of this unusual material. The Borough House complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Stateburg Historic District in and as an individual site in PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION NOTE: Background material and site history for the Cook's House may be found in data pages the Borough House, Stateburg, Sumter County, South Carolina, HABS No.

Data specific to the Cook's House follows below. A. PHYSICAL HISTORY 1. DATE OF ERECTION: c. 2. ARCHITECTS: The designer of the original portion of the Cook's House is thought to be Dr. William Wallace Anderson, Cook's House HABS No. (Page 2) owner of the Borough House from to (For further information on Dr. Anderson, see Borough House data pages, p. 6.) The wing added to the north of the house in was designed by the late Capt. Richard K. Anderson and one of his sons, Richard K. Anderson, Jr. 3. ORIGINAL AND SUBSEQUENT OWNERS: see Borough House data pages, pp. 4. BUILDERS AND SUPPLIERS: The Cook's House was built chiefly by slaves under the direction of Dr. Anderson. The rammed earth construction method used by Dr.

Anderson was based on a description in Rural Economy by Johnson (New York: Dr. Anderson's copy of this book is in the Borough House library. It is not known whether slave labor or hired workers executed the finish carpentry and interior surfaces. The clay used to build the earth walls was dug on site, and the stones and brick used for foundations and the chimney were also supplied locally. Original glazing was undoubtedly purchased, but the supplier is not known. Hardware for the doors may have been made locally. The north wing was built by local masons and carpenters under the supervision of Mr. Bobby Dunn of Avery Lumber Company, Sumter, SC. Suppliers of masonry, lumber, finish materials, and appliances were all merchants located in Sumter, South Carolina. 5.

ORIGINAL PLANS AND CONSTRUCTION: a. PLANS: No original plans are known to survive for the original portion of the building. Blueprints have been preserved which cover plans and elevations of the north wing and plans (no elevations) of the original block. The drawings of the north wing do not represent the existing conditions because a contractor's error resulted in the wing being built 3 feet longer than specified. b. CONSTRUCTION: Foundations of the original building were not examined by HABS and no written data specific to the foundations of this structure were found. However, they are very likely flagstones superimposed by brick, similar to that observed in for the nearby Church of the Holy Cross (also a rammed earth structure) by Thomas A.H.

Miller, an agricultural engineer from the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Public Roads. The first story walls of the original building are of rammed earth, while the second story and roof are of wooden frame construction. Construction photographs from in Cook's House HABS No. (Page 3) Anderson's possession show that a wythe of brick had been added to the exterior of the rammed earth wail on the north side of the building at some point in the past. The base of this wall had also been reinforced sometime prior to the by a heavy concrete buttress to prevent the wall's tipping out. On the interior, the original brick and stone chimney containing four fireplaces surivives in the center of the original block.

The floor structure in both the first and second floors is wooden, the first floor being over an inaccessible crawl space. The gable roofs are covered by standing-seam sheet metal. The north wing was erected on reinforced concrete foundations, with exterior walls of hollow cement block in the first story and wooden frame construction in the second story and roof. The masonry walls were stuccoed to match the rammed earth walls, and the second story was finished with wooden clapboards along with the second story of the original building. Please see data pages for the Borough House for further discussion of the rammed earth construction method used in this building. 6.

ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS: The original building consisted of two floors with two square rooms on each floor separated by the chimney stack. It was not ascertained where the original stairs to the second floor were located, though there was no interior evidence that an internal stair ever existed. Judging from photographs in Anderson's possession, the present front porches and exterior stairs (located on the south side of the original block) were not constructed until some point between and A sheet metal roof was added c.

replacing cypress shingles present in photos taken in A small, one-story concrete block addition containing a half-bathroom was made in the to the southwest corner of the first floor of the original block (the window and exterior door included in this room were filled in and a shower added as part of the renovations). The main block of the building was unoccupied from to and was used only for storage. In a wing was added to the north side of the original block in order to upgrade the building for rental as a residence. Existing clapboarding on the old portion of the building was removed and replaced with clapboards matching those used on the new wing. $4A</*<!t-^ 4'-i>" Cook's House HABS No.

(Page 4) contr&cty wi/ 1) ]~ " "-^ cuf.:-nc uf ztsa tslmate nuntw - -ts of itzas retdei an :cb / < - ^t4 _-> tV.i -ri,- - Fig. 1 Foundations (from drawings by Anderson, aj Cook's House HABS No. (Page 5) i shxco covta-fcf BATHROOM ADP P /M Fig. 2 mos First Floor (from drawings by Anderson, POZCH APP D \ Cook's House HABS No. (Page 6; I & 5 i 1 I Fig. 3 Second Floor (from drawings by Anderson, Cook's House HABS No. (Page 7) LeVATtO*t-N PETAtlS AN0 CHARACTER OF N tV $ E HA5S PHOTOS F0A COtiFAAQC OF 0&/&WAL /N f9# \ Fig, 4 Representative Elevation (from drawings by Anderson, Cook's House HABS NO. (Page 8) B. HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND ASSOCIATIONS The Cook's House has been known to Anderson and her family simply as "Aunt Rinda's House".

"Aunt Rinda" was Rinda Hamilton who worked at the Borough House as the cook in Anderson's youth. Hamilton's husband, Rev. John Hamilton, served the local black community as a preacher for a number of years. Please see data pages for the Borough House, pp. PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. GENERAL STATEMENT: 1. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: The Cook's House is a plain structure, pleasant to view, but bearing no Greek Revival elements or other prominent architectural ornament. The exterior at ground level is coated with stucco tinted the same yellow ochre color as the main house, while the clapboarding of the second story is painted a pastel yellow. Wooden trim is painted white, with the exception of window shutters which are dark green. The roof is Venetian red. 2.

CONDITION OF FABRIC: The exterior walls, foundations, and roof are all sound. The building is actively maintained by its owner, B. DESCRIPTION OF EXTERIOR: 1. OVERALL DIMENSIONS: The structure is an L-shaped plan, with the original block, x forming the north leg of the L. The new wing is x Height to the roof peak from grade on the east side is about 2. FOUNDATIONS: Not visible above grade. 3. WALL CONSTRUCTION: On the ground floor, rammed earth in the original block and concrete block in the new wing and bathroom additions, both types covered with stucco. Frame construction was used for the exterior walls in all parts of the second story, 4. OPENINGS: a. DOORWAYS AND DOORS: The building has six exterior doorways, all of them containing nine-light wooden French doors of modern manufacture.

Four of these are on the south side of the original block and lead front the four original rooms out onto the porch. The other two are the front door, located on the So & J &AS&] Cook's House HABS No. (Page 9) east side of the new wing, and the kitchen entrance, located on the north side of the new wing. b. WINDOWS: All windows in this structure are six-over-six light double-hung wooden sash windows of varying sizes, all dating from The window in the western wall of the kitchen is flanked in addition by two fixed four-light side windows. Every window is fitted with a storm window. Wooden shutters, modelled after the original ones of simple boards and battens, flank each window. 7.

ROOF: Single gable over original block, intersected by single gable of wing, supported by open wooden trusses and covered by standing-seam sheet metal. C. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR: 1. FLOOR PLANS: The original block contains two rooms at the ground level measuring approximately by separated by a central chimney block measuring about x The north wing contains a single major room (the country kitchen) plus an entry foyer, closet, stairwell, and utility closet. The kitchen measures x The second floor of the house is very similar to the first. In the original block are two rooms, each approximately x ll'-O" (exclusive of closets), separated by the central chimney. Both these rooms have fireplaces. In the north wing are the master bedroom x bathroom x lO'-e"), stairwell, hall, and linen closet.

2. FLOORING: All floors are finished with oak tongue-and-groove flooring, with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms which are finished with linoleum flooring. 3. WALL AND CEILING FINISHES: The interior walls and ceilings were all finished with drywall panels in including the original block. All interior walls and woodwork are painted white. 4. OPENINGS: Windows and doors to the exterior were described above; on the interior they are finished with simple casings accompanied by a single modern quirked-ogee molding.

Those in the ground floor of the original block have deep reveals due to the 18-inch thickness of the walls, and window seats were built into each of the window cases, excepting the north window in the western room (now a dining room) which was converted into a cupboard during the addition of the new wing. Interior doors are all modern, four-panel wooden doors. Cook's House HABS No. (Page 10) 5. DECORATIVE FEATURES AND TRIM; a. TRIM: There is no interior trim in the way of chair rails, cornices, picture moldings, or ceiling medallions. Such trim did not exist in the original structure, and it was deemed inappropriate by the building's owners during the renovation to add such trim to such a modest house. b.

HARDWARE: All hardware on the doors and windows is modern, usually brass-plated steel. 6. MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT: The structure was completely outfittea with modern plumbing, electrical, and heating and air conditioning systems in Previously it contained wiring sufficient only for lighting. D. SITE 1. GENERAL SITING AND ORIENTATION: The Cook's House is located approximately thirty yards north of the main house, or about ten yards north of the garage. Its front (east elevation) faces onto the northern grounds of the main house, with a large southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) delimiting the front yard. The west elevation faces onto the kitchen garden, with the immediate yard shaded by several young cherry trees (Prunus species).

To the immediate north of the house is a large wood shed, and to the south is a small yard delimited by the garage and shaded by an eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadiensis). Foundation plantings consist of spiraea, forsythia, and roses, planted near the original block. Please see data pages for the Borough House for further description of the surrounding grounds and consult measured drawings and photographs of the landscape and site. PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION Please see data pages for the Borough House for a complete bibliography PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION The Cook's House was recorded as part of the Borough House recording project. Please see data pages for the Borough House for the project description k.