Oak Island, Plantation house on Edisto Island, Charleston County, US
Oak Island, also known as the William Seabrook, Jr. House, is a 2+1⁄2-story, five-bay frame house with weatherboard cladding and a projecting two-story rear pavilion. Two massive interior chimneys with heavily corbelled caps rise behind the ridge, and a one-story wraparound hipped-roof porch runs along the front and right side. The front shows three small dormers in a row above the eaves, six shuttered upper windows, and a central paneled door with sidelights reached by a wide flight of steps.
William Seabrook Jr. built the house during a period of great prosperity driven by sea island cotton production on the plantations. The construction took place when estates in this region were at their peak economic power.
The house is named for Oak Island, the Edisto Island plantation of William Seabrook Jr., who had it built around 1828–1831. Its five-bay, central-hall plan and one-story wraparound porch follow the raised plantation-house form of the South Carolina sea islands, where the porch gave shade and caught the marsh breeze.
The house stands on Edisto Island off South Carolina Route 174, within Charleston County; the porch and its wide front steps face the approach, and the wraparound section continues along the right side. The building is a private residence, so view the facade and roofline from the road rather than entering the grounds.
The house is also known as the William Seabrook, Jr. House, and its National Register listing came in 1986, more than 150 years after construction. The listing recognizes the five-bay, central-hall frame dwelling with its projecting two-story rear pavilion.
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