Presqu'ile House

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Description:

Black and white photograph looking down the spiral staircase of the Presqu'ile House, also known as the Christopher Belser House, located at 2 Amherst Street. Bayless captured the view from the attic.

The house was constructed from 1802 to 1808 by Jacob Belser or Christopher Belser, depending on the source. The architect of the house is still undetermined but the location of the stair and the Adam-style decorations in the house give credibility to the idea that it might have been designed by Gabriel Manigault who is known to have also owned some land in the area at that time. Research is ongoing. The original portion of the house was a rectangular three-story stucco build with a rounded projection that contained a spiralling staircase. A large three story wing was added to the northeast corner of the building in the 1840's by Henry Grimk?.

Photographer Charles N. Bayless, funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, photographed and recorded the Carolina Lowcountry between 1970 and 1988. The South Carolina Project took place between 1977 and 1979.