Constructed from 1905 to 1907 in agrarian Williamsburg County, the Epps-McGill Farmhouse is a two-story Folk Victorian structure that has served as the residence for generations of local farmers working the fifty-one-acre farmstead that historically surrounded the property. The Farmhouse is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the development of agriculture and tenant farming from 1953 to 1976 in Williamsburg County, particularly as an unusual example of a property that ultimately came into the legal possession of an African American family that first lived there as sharecroppers. The Epps-McGill Farmhouse is also eligible under Criterion C at the local level of significance in architecture. The building is a rare surviving example of Folk Victorian architecture in Williamsburg County, featuring Queen Anne influences, cutaway bay windows, and numerous rooms with tongue-and-groove wood paneling.
While the original architect is unknown, the structure features Queen Anne influences, cutaway bay windows, and numerous rooms with Victorian applied decoration. Original features such as a kitchen attached via an exterior porch are indicative of a larger vernacular architectural tradition in Williamsburg County. Although some modifications have been made to the rear porch and materials of the house, the structure still retains a high degree of historic integrity and is an excellent example of a two-story gable front-and-wing Folk Victorian farmhouse in Williamsburg County. The architecture of the structure is representative of a period of prosperity and growth for the town and county, during which popular architectural styles became prevalent.
The evolution of the housing stock within Kingstree closely reflects the development of the county. The earliest structures were based on a hall-and-parlor plan commonly used by early English colonists. As additional wealth entered the settlement, the I-house became the prominent form until the Civil War. Within Williamsburg County, additional housing forms began to appear around 1830, and plans were modified to accommodate the local climate. During this time, the southern folk house type was established in the county with the use of large full-width, shed-roof front porches. The arrival of the Victorian style plans and mass-produced housing components in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries corresponded directly with a period of growth in Kingstree driven by the tobacco industry.1Julius Roy Richardson II, “Early Houses of Williamsburg County.” Master’s Thesis, Clemson University and the College of Charleston, May 2009, 16.
Folk Victorian house forms are defined by the presence of Victorian era detailing but are much less ornate than their traditional Victorian counterparts and have more regular floor plans.2Virginia and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), 308-17. The details usually seen are inspired by Italianate, Queen Anne, or Carpenter Gothic styles. The spread of Victorian-era styles throughout the United States was made possible by the expansion of railroads into smaller towns and gave rise to the Folk Victorian style. Mass produced features that could be manufactured and transported cheaply and quickly allowed the housing type to quickly spread.
The presence of this housing type in both Williamsburg County and Kingstree is indicative of the rise of wealth in the area during a boom in the tobacco market starting in 1900.3Thomason, “Historic Resources of Kingstree,” 5. Downtown Kingstree served as the main tobacco market for the surrounding farmers, and the physical growth of the town from 1900 to 1920 reflects the success of the local merchants. Approximately 86 percent of the buildings within the existing Kingstree Historic District, established in 1982, were built in the commercial Victorian style during the period from 1900 to 1920.4Philip Thomason, “Kingstree Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form, Building Conservation Technology, Nashville, June 28, 1982.
As the Kingstree commercial corridor expanded, limited growth occurred beyond the downtown area into the surrounding residential areas and countryside.
The Epps-McGill farmhouse is a rural vernacular example of the Victorian style that is distinct in form and design from the contemporary structures downtown. The Epps-McGill Farmhouse adheres to characteristics and features associated with Folk Victorian architecture, including the front-and-wing plan, clapboard exterior, gabled roofline, and two-story Queen Anne-inspired projecting bay with pendants on the north facade. As Folk Victorian houses are vernacular in nature, the Epps-McGill Farmhouse features transitional details borrowed from and combined with different forms and styles of architecture. Large two-story porches on the north and south facades incorporate typical Folk Victorian wide porch and vernacular two-story porch forms common in South Carolina. Chamfered porch columns with a second floor coved beadboard ceiling add decorative detailing indicative of the style. The exterior window and door casing are simple in style while the double wood paneled doors on the front east elevation contain subdued applied mass-produced Victorian molding and corner blocks. The remaining original six over six double hung windows were likely produced outside of the area and easily transported to the site via the nearby railroads. Matching soffit corner pendants below the east gable further illustrate the use of the restrained Victorian elements to decorate the rural structure.
The L-shaped or gable-front interior plan with the large two-story bay is another identifying feature of the Folk Victorian architectural style and defines the modest interior. The simple detailing with vertical beadboard wainscoting in the first and second-floor stair hall, flat plaster walls, and surviving interior trim illustrate the Folk Victorian style. The location of the stair hall within the center of the structure is an earlier colonial era attribute. The center stair is decorated with Victorian elements including a chamfered newel post matching the design on the porch columns with square spindles. The primary rooms except the first-floor south room retain their Folk Victorian mantels and contribute to the spatial character of the farmhouse. The interior elements exhibit techniques employed nationwide during the early twentieth century and clearly expresses the style of this transitional time period with strong influences of earlier antebellum and colonial era architecture.
A feature of the Epps-McGill structure is the presence of a one-story kitchen building which is connected to the main house by the porch. This regional variant is often found before the Civil War with the addition of shed rooms at the rear of the structure with a porch running between. The Bishop House located eight miles east of Kingstree, SC is an adapted early I-house form with the described local variants. The Epps-McGill Farmhouse is an early 20th example of this vernacular variant that appears to have been used locally for more than a century.5Richardson, “Early Houses of Williamsburg County”, 44. A heavily modified contemporary structure known as the Porter House is located at 128 Mill Street in downtown Kingstree and is similar in form to the Epps-McGill Farmhouse.6Linda W. Brown, ed. Remembering Kingstree: The Collective Writings of Bessie Swann Britton, (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2007), 26.
The existing kitchen building has been altered and later attached to the main structure but the plan has been retained.
The Epps-McGill Farmhouse is an excellent example of Folk Victorian architecture within Williamsburg County and the structure retains much of its original architectural integrity 115 years after construction. Similar contemporary examples of this house type listed on the National Register of Historic Places can be found within the W. T. Askins House in Florence County and Carter Hill in Kershaw County, indicating this style was popular throughout the region.
However, this type of rural structure remains unrepresented within the county as much of the focus has been directed toward antebellum residences and commercial Victorian structures. The contemporary McCollum-Murray House in Williamsburg County features a similar plan but lacks the rural character and Folk Victorian detailing present at the Epps-McGill structure.
Retaining a portion of the original farm, the Epps-McGill Farmhouse serves as an excellent example of a Folk Victorian farmhouse.
The Epps-McGill Farmhouse is a large 3,658-square-foot structure located on the west side of Eastland Avenue just northeast of downtown Kingstree in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. The structure is set within a rural landscape surrounded by later mid-twentieth century development. The property consists of the Folk Victorian residence and ruins of several utilitarian structures that once supported the farm when it was in operation. The dwelling is set back approximately one-hundred feet from Eastland Avenue, and live oaks surround the main facade.
The Epps-McGill Farmhouse was constructed between 1905 and1907 as a two-story Folk Victorian T-shaped or gable front and wing dwelling with a two-story porch on the front façade. The house is of balloon frame construction on brick piers. At the foundation, the space between the masonry piers has been infilled with a combination of modern concrete masonry unit (CMU) block and decorative brick masonry. The exterior of the house is covered with wood clapboard siding, most of which is believed to be original. The exterior white paint is heavily weathered.
The approach to the main east façade is via a small pathway that leads to a wood staircase. The steps rise to the first floor of the front two-story porch and the main double door entryway with a pair of wood arched half lite doors. The front doors are typical of Folk Victorian design with applied molding and corner blocks. The glass within each door is surrounded by similar surface applied decoration and corner block crowns. The doorknob and plate appear to be original.
Above the door is a narrow four-lite transom and flanking three-lite sidelights set within simple flat casing. The framing for the second-story porch is covered with tongue-and-groove wood ceiling. The east (front) two-story porch is simple in detail with square post balusters and square columns with a chamfered edge along the shaft. The balusters have been selectively repaired in addition to the 2×4 fascia and trim boards located between the first and second floors of the porch.
Double wood doors with transom and sidelights are also present on the second-floor porch on this elevation. The second-floor porch replicates many of the details of the first floor, except for a vaulted beadboard ceiling at the southeast corner. The ceiling has been repaired recently in the style of the original. The vaulted ceiling intersects the exterior casing of the window at this corner.
A large two-story bay window is present on the right side of the porch at the east corner. The front gable overhangs the bay window with a pendant placed at each corner. A small wood diamond-shaped attic vent is present within the gable. The original windows on this facade have been replaced with one-over-one lite wood windows. The exact date of the window replacement is unknown. An original six-over-six lite window is present in one opening on the second floor of this elevation beneath the porch. Aluminum storm windows have been installed over all the wood windows. The storm windows on the second-floor bay have been extended to accommodate the difference in height between the original opening, and the metal storm windows and the gap between the metal windows and the original frame has been covered with plywood.
The north elevation is simple in detail and features four windows on each floor. The simple fascia soffit and trim present on the east facade extend across this elevation. Many of the original windows have been replaced with one-over-one double hung sash. The windows on this elevation are covered with metal storm windows. An original six-over-six double hung sash window is present on the first floor at the center of the facade. An original lower sash is located within the adjacent window to the west. An additional original lower sash is also present on the second-floor east window. The remaining sashes have been replaced with newer one-over-one lite wood sashes. The second-story storm windows have also been modified to fit the original opening with plywood installed above the sill.
The back elevation of the house faces the fields to the west of the structure. This elevation originally featured a square projecting pedimented gable at the northwest corner and an open two-story porch infill stretching from the projecting gable to the south façade. A diamond-shaped attic louvered vent is in the gable end. A one-story wood frame kitchen building originally was attached to the west porch but was not connected to the interior of the main structure. The structure is contemporary to the main house. In the mid-20th century, the back porches were infilled, and the exterior covered with vertical plywood paneling. This modification of the porch allowed for the kitchen outbuilding to be connected to the interior of the structure. The attached kitchen features a gable roof with matching trim and cornice. The original structure and porch infill are covered in wood clapboard siding. A one-story 20th century addition between the house and the attached kitchen is covered in vertical plywood paneling. The asymmetrical gable end at the northwest corner of the structure features one central window on each floor. The first-floor window has been replaced with an aluminum double hung sash. The sashes in the second-floor window are missing but the frame remains in place. The clapboard siding on the second floor has been replaced with vertical metal roofing panels. The lower portions of the siding were replaced with gray vinyl siding.
The south elevation of the structure features the two-story facade of the main house structure and the two-story porch infill. The one-story kitchen house extends westward from the porch. The south gable end of the main house projects slightly forward of the south plane of the kitchen and porch infill wall. A small exterior wood staircase provides access to the south porch entrance.
The original entryway has been removed and replaced with a modern hollow wood door with a screen door. The original transom and sidelights were replaced with plywood infill during the middle of the 20th century. A hand water pump and sink were originally located on the first floor of the south porch.
The original six-over-six lite windows remain within the attached kitchen structure on this elevation. Metal storm windows are present on many of the windows. A double hung sash is present on the second floor of the porch infill and the upper sash is covered with plywood. The windows within the main house have been replaced with one-over-one lite sash except for the lower sash of the east window on the second story.
The roof contains a cross gable with full cornice returns on each gable. Two masonry chimneys are integrated within the roof and service the six fireplaces within the structure. The roof is covered with a 20th century steel 5v metal paneling and is in poor condition. On the north elevation, the metal roofing panels have failed, exposing the original wood shake roof. Wood battens have been installed over the original shakes to support the new metal roof.
Upon entering the Epps-McGill farmhouse through the primary front entrance, the structure has an asymmetric floor plan featuring a central hallway running east-west. The interior of the house has been slightly modified over time but still retains a majority of the interior decorative elements. Few changes have been made to the structure since the construction of the house in 1905. A majority of the alterations are reversible and do not appear to have caused any permanent damage.
Within the center room, a small side set staircase is present on the south wall of the room and provides access upstairs. The staircase banister spindles are simple in detail and square. The newel post is square with chamfered edges like the east porch columns. The hallway room features beadboard wainscoting with plaster walls and a beadboard ceiling. The historic Victorian tongue-and-groove flooring is present within this space and is covered with carpet. An exterior door is present on the west side of this space and once provided access to the exterior west porch. The exterior west door is a large four-panel door surrounded by a transom and sidelights that match the east entrance.
Two rooms are present on the north side of the hallway. Both rooms share a chimney with fireboxes on each side. The northeast bedroom is set within the east projecting bay. The walls have been covered with midcentury wood paneling, but the original plaster walls are extant where the paneling is missing or damaged. The front northeast room on the first floor has an elaborate two-tiered oak mantel which appears to be original to the structure. The oak mantel has turned Ionic columns with decorative wreath and fleur-de-lis applied composition. A round beveled mirror is present on the second tier. The firebox has been modified for a furnace. The beadboard ceiling is intact. A simple wood crown is present around the room and is composed of applied trim. The original wood flooring is covered with carpet.
Another bedroom is located at the northwest corner of the stair hall and contains an additional fireplace and a large secondary room or closet that extends north-south the entire width of the room. The original purpose of this secondary room is currently unknown. A simple wood mantel is present above the firebox with diamond trim below the top shelf trim within the header of the mantel. The firebox has been enclosed to support the installation of a later electric furnace. The ceiling has been covered in composite paneling with supporting battens. The walls are covered with plain plaster. The wood flooring is covered in linoleum. The bedroom features two closets. One is adjacent to the right of the firebox and is lined with unpainted pine beadboard. The west side of this room features a large closet that extends north-south the entire width of the room.
A large room is present at the south side of the central hallway. The room has been modified since 1905 as the mantel has been replaced with a modern masonry fireplace and a wood burning stove has been installed in the firebox. Twentieth century wood composite wainscoting is present at the base of the walls. A built-in cupboard with large glass doors is located to the right of the fireplace. The lower cupboard wood cabinets are lined with unpainted beadboard. The casing around the cupboard matches the trim found in the doorways and this unit is believed to be original. The wood flooring and plain plaster walls remain intact. The ceiling plaster was replaced with modern drywall.
The east-west interior hallway also provides access to the infilled porch space on the west façade. A side set exterior staircase running north-south is present on the infilled first-floor porch directly in front of the modified south porch entrance. The ceiling is covered with historic beadboard matching the same profile of beadboard found throughout the house. The stair balustrade spindles match the detail on the main interior staircase. Beadboard is present on the side and underside of this staircase. The stair was constructed at an angle to accommodate the original slope of the porch decking. A small storage space with a four-panel wood door is present directly beneath this stair. The original exterior clapboard siding of the main house and the
kitchen addition remain in place within this space. Modern exterior doors are present on the west and east sides of this enclosed hallway. The mid-twentieth century east addition creates a large mudroom space adjacent to the hallway and kitchen on the first floor. Access to the kitchen is provided via the first-floor enclosed porch.
The one-story kitchen wing contains a large main room and a smaller pantry at the west side of the structure. The interior of the main kitchen space has been greatly altered with composite paneled walls and a plywood ceiling. The west pantry still retains the unpainted beadboard walls and ceiling and houses many pieces of historic farming and cooking equipment.
The second floor mirrors the floorplan of the first floor, featuring a central hallway, two bedrooms on the north side of the house, one large bedroom on the southside, and the infilled second floor of the west porch. Access to the second-floor east porch is provided via the central hallway. The second-story stair hall is similar in decoration and style to the first-floor hallway. Tongue and groove wainscoting lines the walls. Unadorned wood crown molding runs the perimeter of the room beneath a painted beadboard ceiling. The doors to the bedroom are identical five panel wood doors with four vertical panels and a horizontal panel at mid-height. Steel rim locks with metal doorknobs are present on select doors. The balustrade, spindles, and newel posts are identical to the first floor. The original hardware is missing except for the door and key plates. At the east end of the hallway, two five-panel wood doors are framed with flanking triple sidelights and a four-lite transom. Simple flat wood casing and trim surrounds the entryway. On the west side facing the porch infill, the door is a simple four-panel door with matching sidelights and transom. The historic hardware remains in place.
The northeast bedroom on the second floor is simpler in decoration than the room directly below on the first floor. Wood baseboard is present throughout the room. A simple wood mantel and firebox are preserved on the west wall. A small closet is present to the right of the firebox and the closet is lined in unpainted beadboard. An original doorway connecting the northeast and northwest bedrooms has been infilled and covered with drywall. The ceiling is covered in beadboard and the cornice matches the trim seen elsewhere throughout the house. Four double- hung windows are located within this room, including three within the east bay.
The south room is well-preserved with little modification. A small closet is present to the west of the original firebox and wood mantel. The mantel differs in design from the other bedrooms as the legs and mantle header contain intricate molding. A two-tiered baseboard composed of a lower baseboard with base shoe and upper short paneling wraps around the room. The header has been modified in the middle. The pine floors are in good condition. The interior wood side casing is simple in style. The fixtures within this room are modern. The plaster is damaged along the north wall of this structure, exposing the lath and interior framing above the fireplace. The room contains five windows, including a window to the now enclosed west porch.
The northwest bedroom features the original wood mantel and firebox. The historic flooring and ceiling remain in place. The plaster has been covered with drywall at select locations. The room contains three windows including one facing south towards the porch infill. The window sashes in this room have been removed and the windows have been covered with plywood. A large closet is present along the west wall of this room. The interior wall plaster is damaged, exposing
the machine-cut lath throughout this small storage space. One window is located within this storage room, but the sashes have been removed. The flat casing remains intact.
The enclosed second floor west porch is accessed from the interior hallway or from the original exterior stairs on the first floor of the porch infill. One window is located on the south side of this space, and the date of the window is unknown. The exterior clapboard siding of the farmhouse is present on the east and north sides of the room along with an enclosed window on each elevation of the original structure. The original porch decking remains on the floor and gently slopes towards the west. The ceiling and exterior walls are covered with beadboard siding. One small jalousie window is present on the west wall. The ceiling is sloped to match the framing of the original porch roof. The southwest corner of the porch ceiling is coved in a similar style to the front porch and is a character-defining feature of this space.