Online Exhibit: Building Drayton Hall c. 1738-1750

Event Details

Building a house like Drayton Hall required the work of many people practicing several different building trades including bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, and joinery. While no records survive that tell us who these people were, it is probable that Drayton Hall was built by both enslaved and white craftsmen.

Created by skilled carvers using expensive materials like mahogany and vermillion, these ornaments are some of the many architectural features that make Drayton Hall so extraordinary. It remains unknown exactly where, and by whom, these objects were made. They could have been imported from Great Britain or carved locally by craftsmen who advertised their services in the South Carolina Gazette. Whoever made these objects was an accomplished carver working with expensive materials, making it clear that John Drayton intended these architectural embellishments to reinforce his image and status as an English gentleman of good taste. The tools were found archaeologically on the property and may have been used to construct Drayton Hall and to create the elaborately carved architectural fragments that once adorned Drayton Hall's interiors.