Rainbow Row is the name for a series of thirteen colorful historic houses in Charleston, South Carolina. The houses are located north of Tradd St. and south of Elliot St. on East Bay Street, that is, 79 to 107 East Bay Street. It is referred to as Rainbow Row for the pastel colors used to paint all of the houses. It is a common tourist attraction and is one of the most photographed parts of Charleston.
The buildings along Rainbow Row originally fronted directly on the riverfront of the Cooper River, but that land was subsequently filled in. Merchants constructed commercial buildings with stores on the first floor and living quarters above. Most of the buildings had no interior access between the first and second floors; exterior stairs were located in the yards in their rears. In 1778, a fire destroyed much of the neighborhood, and only 95 to 101 East Bay Street was spared.
After the Civil War, this area of Charleston devolved into near slum conditions. In the 1920, Susan Pringle Frost, the founder of the Preservation Society of Charleston, bought six of the buildings, but she lacked the money to restore them immediately. In 1931, Dorothy Haskell Porcher Legge purchased a section of these houses numbering 99 through 101 East Bay and began to renovate them. She chose to paint these houses pink based on a colonial Caribbean color scheme. Other owners and future owners followed suit, creating the "rainbow" of pastel colors present today. The coloring of the houses helped keep the houses cool inside as well as give the area its name. By 1945, most of the houses had been restored.[1]
Common myths concerning Charleston include variants on the reasons for the paint colors. According to some tales, the houses were painted in the various colors such that the intoxicated sailors coming in from port could remember which houses they were to bunk in. In other versions, the colors of the buildings date from their use as stores; the colors were used so that owners could tell illiterate slaves which building to go to for shopping.
Rainbow Row is composed of thirteen different buildings, most of which share party walls with their neighboring houses. The following are summaries of some of the buildings.
Merchants Peter Leger and William Greenwood bought a building at 91 East Bay Street in 1774, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1778. In 1793, the building was sold to Nathaniel Russell, a Rhode Island merchant. After a series of owners and uses, Susan Pringle Frost bought the house in 1920; she sold it to New York playwright John McGowan in 1941. McGowan removed Greek Revival details which had been added to the house in the 19th century and had the current details created including the large arched doors on the first floor and roofline.[2] In the panoramic photo above, 91 East Bay St. is the second house from the left. In the panoramic photo above, the house is at the extreme right edge.
The James Cook House was built in about 1778 and had a commercial use on the first floor with a residence above. Following its restoration, there is a kitchen and dining room on the first floor and a drawing room and library on the second floor.[3] In the panoramic photo above, 93 East Bay St. is the bright yellow house, third from the left.
Because of gaps in the chain of title, a builder for 95 East Bay Street has been impossible to pinpoint. However, it has stylistic clues which suggest a connection to the neighboring houses at 97 and 99-101 East Bay Street and a possible connection to the builder of those buildings, Othniel Beale. In 1779, 95 East Bay Street was owned by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. In 1789, a commercial interest bought the property, but the storefront window was later replaced with the existing pair of entrances and small windows.[4] In the panoramic photo above, 95 East Bay St. is the green, four story house with Flemish gable roofline.
Othniel Beale bought the lot upon which 97 East Bay St. is built in March 1741 for a price not indicating the presence of a building. When he added a small piece of land to his lot in 1748, the deed referred to his "new Brick Store" as one of the landmarks. Beale also built the adjoining 99-101 East Bay St., a building which shares a roof, party wall, and decorative elements. After the death of Beale, both properties passed through several owners and uses. Susan Pringle Frost bought 97 East Bay Street and resold it in 1936.[5] The house was the first on Rainbow Row to be restored in the 1930s; Mrs. Dorothy Haskell Porcher Legge was recognized for her groundbreaking restoration work on the house with an award from the Preservation Society of Charleston in 1992.[6] In the panoramic photo above, 99-101 East Bay St. is the widest house shown, and 97 East Bay is the blue house with three windows and a door on the ground floor to its left.
John Blake bought the lot at the southwest corner of Elliott St. and East Bay St. in 1791 and immediately executed an agreement with the owner of the neighboring property to the south at 105 East Bay St. The neighboring house had been built eight inches across the property line onto Blake's new lot. In exchange for receiving a deed to the misplaced wall, Blake agreed to build a gutter to drain water from between the existing building and the one which he planned to construct. Thus, 107 East Bay Street seems to date to about 1792. During more than 200 years, the house has seen many alterations to its appearance and interior. Indeed, when the house was bought by Irving Solomon in the 1970s, the new owner was unable to determine the original configuration for restoration. A two-story kitchen house stands behind 107 East Bay St. and can be seen from Elliott St.; it is now a separate house titled 1 Elliott St.[7]
