Description
Sitting alongside Charleston Harbor, with long range views of the city, this stunning home is steeped in history and offers an unrivaled blend of historical significance, build quality, and amenities. Outdoor living spaces, including covered porches, a manicured lawn, and private dock, further enhance the home's immense appeal. The residence was originally built in 1800 for one of America's founding fathers, Charles Pinckney, as a summer home. It was known as Shell Hall and was said to be Pin
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ckney's preferred residence over his downtown and plantation residences, as the sea breeze relieved both the heat and mosquitos.Later in the 19th century, now known as Ronkin's Long Room, the crew of the HL Hunley, which succeeded in the first attack of a combat submarine on a warship in humhistory, spent their final nights residing here. Throughout the following century and a half, 205 Ferry Street has been painstakingly renovated with careful attention to the historic nature of this property.
From the hand formed brick foundation to the solid copper standing seam roof, the home features a build quality which cannot be surpassed. Access the property via the Arkansas field stone driveway and follow the brick path (laid over solid concrete base) to a fantastic solid brick staircase featuring custom full round mahogany railing. The piazza that welcomes you is made of ipe decking and the entry doors consist of a solid Spanish Cedar door with large glass window to bring in views of Charleston Harbor and a secondary thick, solid Mahogany door for privacy and security.
All exterior doors on the second and third levels are solid Mahogany and solid Spanish Cedar on the lower level. Every window at the residence was constructed by Lepage Millwork of Quebec, Canada, and are made of solid mahogany and feature real chain-driven counterweights. All windows facing the harbor have impact-rated glass as well. Interior doors are solid Caribbean pine and feature Sherle Wagner knobs. All interior walls are made not of traditional drywall, but an exterior grade product known as Densglass which is both extremely moisture and fire resistant.
The foyer features Mosaïque Surface marble flooring, gilded ceiling, and an introduction to the overly impressive crown molding throughout the home. Adjacent to the foyer on the left is a beautiful library/office featuring American Walnut paneling with supreme custom trim detail as well as a Chesney's marble mantel and functioning wood burning fireplace (also piped for gas like all fireplaces in the residence). You are also introduced to the amazing wide plank true heart of pine flooring that grace the entire home.
The open concept kitchen, keeping room, and casual dining greets you to the right of the foyer. Cabinets throughout the home are made by Clive Christian cabinets of England, one of the finest cabinet makers in the world. The thirteen foot long kitchen island is topped with Antolini marble imbued with Azerocare which is a permanent treatment that protects from staining, etching, and bacteria and also features a modern waterfall slab. A 36 inch SubZero refrigerator and stand alone 36 inch SubZero freezer are not the only refrigeration in the kitchen, as there are also two SubZero refrigeration drawers and an ice maker featuring nugget ice. A 48" Viking professional range under a 2000 cfm custom quiet remote blower hood also has one large and one small oven. There is a third oven in the form of a Wolf convection oven as well as a separate Wolf warming drawer in the island. A coffee bar features a Breville Oracle Touch super automatic. The final appliances in this area is a Eurocave 200 bottle built in wine cellar as well as a Miele Excella series dishwasher.
The casual dining area boasts amazing views of Charleston Harbor, vibrant sunsets, private docks, and the beautiful live oaks that grace the yard. The keeping room features another solid stone mantel and fireplace flanked by more Clive Christian cabinetry. Beyond the kitchen are two enormous walk-in pantries (one locked) which leads through a swinging door to the vast 25 foot long dining room with ample space for the largest of gatherings. An exquisitely paneled main hall bisects the home from the front foyer to the rear foyer from which you can access the beautiful blue music room with its wall of windows, the golf simulator room where you can work on your game from home, a spacious and well-appointed half bath, as well as the beautiful staircase to the upper level of the home featuring a custom wrought-iron banister.
The upper level is dominated by the over 1,000 square foot primary suite, featuring separate bathrooms and separate walk in closets. The first primary bath is extremely spacious and has a standing tub, zero entry glass enclosed stand up shower, heated floors, and impressive gold Sherle Wagner fixtures throughout. Both walk in closets were designed and built by the renowned Studiobecker. The primary bedroom features powered shades facing the harbor so you can welcome the morning sun with the touch of a button. There are three other generous bedrooms upstairs, one en-suite, and two which share a hall bath. A well-equipped laundry room and separate A/V closet to organize the Cat5e throughout the home for access to the gigabit internet service, as well as home audio, are the final areas of the upper floor.
The lower level, which does not count toward the square footage of the home, features a gym complete with a small traditional Swedish Sauna, a theater room with 4K projector, Dolby Atmos sound, 8 powered leather theater chairs (4 in front row and 4 in back row on riser), a billiards and darts room, as well as a spectacular English Yew clad wine cellar (over 1,000 bottles) which is currently being used as a bar room. The bar was constructed out of original lumber from the original 1800 build complete with hand forged nails but can easily be converted back to a true wine cellar (Eurocave temperature and humidity control system).
Also on the lower level is the three car garage, with professional epoxy coated flooring and Spanish Cedar garage doors. A full bath is also located on the lower level, which is great for convenience. Even more convenient is the inclusion of a three-stop hydraulic elevator clad in Mahogany. This is fantastic for helping people (and groceries) move level to level. Below the first piazza is a great loggia featuring a large outdoor dining and living space complete with outdoor fireplace and large storage which can be used as a potting shed.
Surprisingly for a home of this magnitude and historical significance, 205 Ferry is also an Earth friendly (nearly carbon neutral) residence. A 18kW (50 panel) solar installation on the standing seam copper roof provides 100% of the necessary electricity for the home for most months of the year. A Tesla charger is already installed in the garage should you need access to electric car charging as well. Recently installed high SEER HVAC systems in the home along with the open cell spray foam insulation throughout the home (throughout all exterior walls, not just the attic) and 4 tankless Rinai water heaters all help reduce energy usage.
Just like the house itself, the private deepwater dock is incredibly special. The aluminum-framed floater and boat lift both feature the deepest water on the old village waterfront due to their unique location. The rubble from the Ferry wharf which serviced Old Village in the 1800s is adjacent to the dock, which cuts a deep channel of water for the dock at the residence. You can operate the boat lift even on negative low tides. Another huge benefit of this Ferry wharf rubble is the amazing fishing which is unrivaled in Old Village. Known locally as "the honey hole", Redfish, Spotted Sea Trout, and Flounder stock up on the unique rock structure, which also brings in trophy size Sheepshead. Larger transient species such as Mackerel and Rays can also be caught in the channel.
Clive Christian, Studiobecker, Lepage Millwork, Sherle Wagner, Mosaïque Surface, American walnut, English Yew, supreme trim, densglass construction, copper roof, hand formed brick, mahogany elevator... the list of impressive and unique qualities of this historic deepwater property is never ending. There is truly no other property quite like 205 Ferry Street.
