1. Drayton Hall: Preservation over Restoration
Following the first colonial land grant issued to one Nicholas Carteret on
January 7th, 1676, John Drayton purchased this property west of the Ashley River to
create Drayton Hall in 1738. The Drayton Family was a prominent and powerful
family of the time. John’s Father Thomas raised cattle on a tract of land on the
Ashley River for years. At the time of Drayton Hall’s construction, John Drayton
transitioned from a rancher to a planter. In 1738 he began farming rice, a very labor
and slave intensive trade. “The rice likely would have involved at least half the
enslaved people, if not more, who worked at Drayton Hall; it is thought that women
played a larger role in rice cultivation than men. If not involved directly with the rice
crop, enslaved people also filled support roles. Coopers made barrels; blacksmiths
made tools; carpenters made houses, barns, sheds, and other dependencies
(DraytonHall.org).” They also manufactured bricks from South Carolina clay and
eventually mined Phosphate on the property, which would become a large source of
income for the family.
As the Charleston Colony grew larger and more developed, so did John’s
Career. Drayton Hall served at John’s headquarters and later a country house for the
family and home following son Charles Drayton’s death. At the turn of the
Revolutionary War, John Drayton and his family packed their estate in anticipation
of destruction upon soldier’s arrival. John passed away on this journey and the
British army used “Drayton Hall [as a headquarters] until the British finally
evacuated Charleston just before Christmas. Peace had returned. The house had
HPCP339
Alex Cohn
Field Notes
2/1/16
Prof. Bates

2. survived, but its fields, ornamental gardens, and many of its buildings would have
to be rebuilt (DraytonHall.org).” After the end of the American Revolution, son
Charles Drayton purchased Drayton Hall from his stepmother Rebecca Perry
Drayton, his father’s fourth wife and in 1785 Charles was electedLt. Governor of
South Carolina and in 1789 he represented St. Andrews Parish at the South
Carolina Constitutional Convention. From then on Drayton Hall was used as an
exceptional expression of the family’s status, prestige and leisure.
It is believed that John Drayton himself designed and commissioned
Drayton Hall. John Drayton was always very much into the English enlightenment
that spread from Europe in the 18th century. “Drayton Hall’s architecture, for
example, was heavily influenced by the classically inspired design principles
originally put forth by Andrea Palladio in Italy during the 16th century. Such were
embraced in England from the 17th century, and gained momentum in the UK and
the American colonies during the 18th century through the publication of
architectural pattern books (DraytonHall.org).” Drayton Hall is the earliest and
finest example of Palladian, specifically Georgian-Palladian, American
architecture.
As I continued down the main drive, Drayton Hall emerged through the
trees in the distance. As this was my first trip to Drayton Hall, I felt as important
driving down that driveway as any person worthy of entering the Drayton home at
that time. Although the landscape is relatively barren today, one could still grasp a
feeling of what it once was: expansive and lush. During its prime, Drayton Hall

3. featured a long circular drive with raised grass mound and reflecting pool. The
rear featured an expansive classical garden to which John Drayton featured a
second straight path leading to the east riverfront façade. I noticed a trend as if
John Drayton planned the landscape as a line. One enters the premises, continues
straight down the drive, enters the house (which in itself has a line of symmetry
due to its Palladian origins), straight through the house, and down the path in the
rear garden to the water. This was the first design aspect of the property, which
caught my eye.
Georgian-Palladian architecture, originated from Andrea Palladio’s “Four
Books of Architecture.” These buildings are characterized by their symmetry and
regularity of detail. Great houses and public buildings were fronted with massive
porticos with pediments and colonnades inspired by ancient Greek and Roman
temples. Alternating pediments like those on the east façade of Drayton Hall are a
prominent characteristic of Palladian architecture. It is believed that John Drayton
did not study abroad to learn of these style principles but somehow was able to use
William Kent’s books (editing Indigo Jones’ books of architecture) along with
Palladio’s books to facilitate his design. Featuring characteristics such as Indigo
Jones’s Chimneypieces and wooden wall siding back these ideas. Specifically, the
wooden wall siding is a defining feature of Georgian Interiors. “A fully paneled room
of the Georgian period… the rails (horizontal elements) and stiles (vertical
elements) are arranged to observe the basic three-part division of the wall into
frieze, field and dado. As usual the most elaborate joinery and all the carved detail
are confined to the chimneypiece. By this date oak, cedar and walnut paneling was

4. very rare: most rooms were of pine or fir and invariably painted (Calloway, 86). ”
Drayton Hall features this concept in all rooms along with built in benches. All
feature rail and stile elements and have the three-part nature and express the
Drayton prestige, especially featuring paneling made from the much desired and
expensive material: Cedar.
The most prominent features of the John Drayton Hall are the various
overmantles in each room. This element appears to be closely related to another
design in an architectural book. Specifically the overmantle in the breakroom in the
northwest corner of the home is very similar to Plate 91 in James Gibbs’ “A Book of
Architecture Containing Designs of Buildings and Ornaments.” “In the overmantle, the
open pediment, flanking scrolls and center panel with square corner details all
appear to be the same. The guilloche pattern in the chimneypiece at Drayton Hall
differs from the interlocking scrolls that make a wave pattern in the Gibbs
chimneypiece, but the designs are similar enough to assume a relationship. Unlike
the chimney in the Great Hall, this architectural detail is associated with a book from
the Drayton Library catalog (Lowe 37).” These amazing interior elements are the
largest interior indications of Drayton’s English architectural elements. Gibbs
intended his book to be “of use to such gentlemen as might be concerned in building,
especially in the remote parts of the country, where little or no assistance for
designs can be procured (Lowe 37).” This statement describes exactly John
Drayton’s situation and would lead him to consult these books, as evidence from
Gibbs’ overmantle and that Drayton must have seen this mantle in Gibbs’ book.

5. Indigo jones expanded on Palladio’s work by enriching it with his own designs of
celling, fireplaces and walls seen in William Kent’s Designs of Indigo Jones.
All signs of design of Drayton Hall express a sense of High Style design and
prestige. The juxtaposition of the two principle facades, one featuring a very
Georgian façade, featuring alternating pediments, a double-stair entryway and
symmetry, symmetry, symmetry while the west front façade features a large
Palladian portico to be seen coming down the drive. This dichotomy is reflected
inside the house as well and features a mix of South Carolinian fashion and Palladian
classicism.
John Drayton featured many different high style materials in his home as
well. Many fireplaces are lined with marble with Georgian fixtures and all furniture,
florets, and balustrades were made of imported mahogany. The house featured
carved bald Cyprus wooden walls with built in seats under most windows. The
house originally featured a crème colored paint but later finished with a blue 1880s
paint. Some rooms feature a faux balanced Palladian door as a characteristic of
symmetry. All fireplaces have high style over mantles ranging in styles picked by
Drayton himself from these books. The ceilings made of plaster featured plaster
designs and the cornice lined with egg and dart molding. All of these elements
expressed prestige and high style at this time and almost every inch of the house
was designed and taken from Europe. The home’s floor plan consisted of a great hall
in the front entry with public spaces to the left and private spaces to the right (same
concept upstairs) with the dining room downstairs and the “ballroom” upstairs.

6. Both entryways of this home express separate styles with the west façade featuring
a Palladian portico and the east façade featuring a Georgian stair hall.
John Drayton admired the idea of moving through spaces. Each entryway,
whether entering from the road or river, feature the same experience as if a line was
drawn straight through from river, through the house and down the road. Drayton
Hall is one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture and feature all
of its greatest characteristics to reflect the main purpose of this house: to showcase
the Family’s prominence. John Drayton truly admired the ideas of architects like
Palladio, Kent, Jones, etc. and conceived such a house that encompassed all of their
ideals while eloquently expressing his own.

7. Works Cited
1. Calloway, Stephen, Elizabeth C. Cromley, and Alan Powers. "Early Georgian
(1714-1765)." The Elements of Style: An Encyclopedia of Domestic
Architectural Detail. Buffalo, NY: Firefly, 2005. N. pag. Print.
2. Drayton Hall. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, n.d. Web. 01 Feb.
2016. <http://www.draytonhall.org/about-us-then-now/the-history-of-
drayton-hall/>.
3. Lowe, Patricia Ann. Volumes That Speak: The Architectural Books of the
Drayton Library Catalog and the Design of Drayton Hall. N.p.: Graduate
Schools of Clemson U and The College of Charleston, 2010. Print.
4. Detailed Notes from physical tour of Drayton Hall