113 Ashley Avenue

113 Ashley Avenue. Bennett - Hayne House. , This two-and-one-half-story Adam Style house was built circa 1800 by Thomas Bennett, Jr., (1781-1865). Bennett served as intendent of Charleston (1812-1813) and governor of South Carolina (1820-1822). The frame structure rests on a raised basement with a gable roof highlighted on both north and south elevations by a central pediment lunette and flanked by paired gabled dormers. The five-bay wide main facade has a central door framed by a transom and sidelights with decorative tracery., Windows and louvered shutters are nine over nine lights. The two tiered piazza with Tuscan columns and turned balusters span the south facade and a portion of the west facade. A rear addition was added in the late nineteenth century. , Bennett operated rice and lumber mills in partnership with his father, Thomas Bennett, Sr. The elder Bennett, along with Daniel Cannon and Jonathan Lucas, Jr., were pioneers in establishing lumber and rice mills in the Charleston area. The Bennetts were also partners in the architectural firm Bennett and Son. The design of the Classical Revival style Bennett Rice Mill on Washington Street is attributed to Thomas Bennett, Jr. , In 1825 the house was sold to Mrs. Susan McElhenny, whose daughter Emily married Paul Hamilton Hayne, a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Their son, the noted poet and editor Paul Hamilton Hayne (1830- 1886), was born here. In 1856 Hayne founded Russell's Magazine, a prominent southern literary journal. In the 1870s Hayne became known as the "poet laureate of the South." , The interior of 113 Ashley Avenue is notable for its original woodwork and elegant central staircase.