Robert William Roper House

I hope you enjoy these photos of the Robert William Roper House, located at 9 East Battery Street.

Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973, the Roper House is one of Charleston’s most beautiful Greek Revival houses. Robert William Roper, a prominent cotton planter, built this house in 1838. It is said that Mr. Roper intended his showcase home to be the first residence seen by visitors approaching Charleston from the sea, and it could be seen by approaching ships from miles away. The original architect is believed to have been Charles Friedrich Reichardt, although arguments are also made for Edward B. White (who also designed Market Hall and the French Huguenot Church). Solomon R. Guggenheim acquired the house in 1929. It has been owned since 1968 by Richard H. Jenrette, a Wall Street investment banker, who completed in the early-1980s what Jonathan H. Poston, author of The Buildings of Charleston, has called “one of America’s most notable restorations of a Greek Revival house”. Despite the renovations, there remains a 500 pound piece of cannon lodged in the attic from when the Confederates blew up a gun at the intersection of E. Battery and S. Battery in 1865!