page_title: Nathaniel Russell House
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Nathaniel Russell House / Mansion and grounds / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: The rear of the Nathaniel Russell House in Charleston, South Carolina.
context_page_description: The Nathaniel Russell House is a historic house at 51 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Built by slave trader and wealthy merchant Nathaniel Russell in 1808, it is recognized as one of America's most important Neoclassical houses. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
context_section_description: Russell commissioned an unknown architect to build a large townhome in the then popular Federal-style. Sited on a large city lot in downtown Charleston, the rectangular house has a symmetrical façade, with a projecting four-sided bay that rises the full three-stories of the central block of the house. Constructed of Carolina gray brick, the three bay entrance front emphasizes height rather than width with the main living areas on the second and third-stories.  The house is 9,600 square feet (890 m²) with 6,000 square feet (560 m²) of living area.
  The first-story entrance front is dominated by the residence's grand entrance door. The eight-panel door is faux-grained and is encased by fluted pilasters, and topped by an elliptical fanlight detailed with looped tracery set within a molded nichelike arch. The entrance is flanked by single unadorned windows.
  The three windows on the second-floor are emphasized by their floor length, ornamented with white marble lintels and are set in recessed red-brick arches with white keystones, tied together with a narrow white string course that runs around the entire perimeter of the house. Also featured is a light wrought-iron balcony that breaks out in a semicircle before each of the second-story windows, and displays Nathaniel Russell's initials in the center. A balcony also surrounds the projecting bay on the south side of the house, but does not interconnect with the one on the entrance front. Above the second-story brick arches is found a subtle red, double-brick string course that is topped with three additional windows on the third floor with prominent marble lintels. The architectural details that are found on the entrance front is carried over to the south facing façade, and can be viewed from the garden. A paneled balustrade runs fully about the central block and the south bay rendering the low hipped roof imperceptible.
caption: South Bay of house
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