Tabby, Coquina, Sandstone, and Stucco

Tabby, Coquina, Sandstone, and Stucco. . Lime, oyster shells, sand, and water are the ingredients of tabby, a building material commonly used during the 18th and 19th centuries. The garden walls, the carriage house, and the main house of the Owens-Thomas site are all made of tabby, which was poured in lifts (layers) in wooden forms (see horizontal lines at left). The upper stories of both the carriage and main houses are built of the lightweight stone coquina. Coquina is a fossil stone, also called Bermuda Stone. , Since Savannah had no natural stone, all stone was imported. English sandstone was used for the window sills, belt courses (middle bands), steps, and paving stones. The red-colored sandstone is often called brownstone. , The exterior of the Owens-Thomas buildings are covered with English natural cement stucco, known in the 19th century as Roman cement. Richard Richardson (1785-1833), who had the house designed by architect William Jay (1792-1837) and constructed by master builder John Retan (d.1840), imported 360 casks of Roman cement from London in 1818. This product preceded today's Portland cement, which was not patented in the United States until 1864.