Press Release
An elegant 1903 high-style Queen Anne Victorian on Charleston's beautiful Rutledge Avenue, South of Broad, will be featured as the 42nd annual Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, Inc. (CSOL®) Symphony Designer Showhouse.
Opening March 27, 2019, the house will display three levels of exquisite spaces presented by local interior designers. All proceeds benefit the Charleston Symphony and fund CSOL Music Scholarships.
The 2019 CSOL Symphony Designer Showhouse sits on one of Charleston's premiere residential streets near Colonial Lake. The home was built by Charleston Mayor Wilson G. Harvey, later Lieutenant Governor and Governor of South Carolina, who lived next door. The Harveys are one of only three families to own the house, which retains its dramatic period exterior ornamentation and elegant interior features.
Kitty Reid, CSOL President notes: “We are thrilled to present our 2019 Designer Showhouse, where the focus is on our beautiful city, its exceptional architecture and our talented and wonderful designers. Springtime is so special in Charleston, and this most cherished event welcomes thousands of visitors to Charleston each year. We're so happy to be a part of presenting our city and all it has to offer to the world.”
The CSOL Symphony Designer Showhouse ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 6:00 pm on March 26 during the black tie optional Preview Party. Music by the Charleston Symphony Brass Ensemble begins at 5:45 pm. The Showhouse will be open daily from March 27 through April 28 (closed Easter Sunday). We are pleased to introduce our SCORE Pop-Up Shop to the Designer Showhouse, featuring an exclusive selection of specially curated items for sale. House and SCORE hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Saturday and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday. Lunch is available in Café Musique Monday through Saturday. Be sure to check our website for details on special events throughout the month.
Advance tickets are available online through March 26 for $20 each at www.csolinc.org. Tickets at the door will be available beginning March 27 for $25 each. Tickets include access to all rooms. SCORE and the café do not require a ticket. Children 10 and older are admitted with a ticket when accompanied by an adult. Tickets to the March 26 Preview Party will be available online. For more information on the CSOL Symphony Designer Showhouse and for announcements of special events such as trunk shows and presentations, visit www.csolinc.org.
A list of designers follows:
- Audrey Wood, Creekside Interiors, Foyer, Stairwells and Upstairs Hallways Lance Griffith, CHD Interiors, Living Room
- Terri Baldwin, TCB Design Interiors, Living Room
- Allyson Kirkpatrick-Clark, Allyson K Designs, Dining Room
- Phillips, Latitude Design Group LLC, Kitchen
- Sandy Ericksen, Sandra Ericksen Design, 2nd Floor Front Bedroom
- Terry Stephenson, Juxtaposition Home & Garden, 2nd Floor Sitting Room and 2nd Floor Piazza Shannon Bogan, S Bogan Designs, 2nd Floor Master Bedroom and 2nd Floor Piazza
- Heidi Huddleston, Delicious Kitchens & Interiors, LLC, Master Bath Kendall Cordina, Cordina Services LLC, 2nd Floor Bath
- Meredith Gale, Noble Lane Interiors, 3rd Floor Playroom
- Cecilia Murray, Cecil Byrne Gallery, 3rd Floor Artist Studio and Gallery Molly Hamrick, Molly Hamrick Interiors, 3rd Floor Sitting Room
- Amandra Kelly and Margaret Lee Moniz, Indigo Alley Interiors, Main Floor Piazza Linda Greenberg, Linda Greenberg Landscape & Design, Landscape
About the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League, Inc.
The CSOL is a multi-talented group of more than 250 dedicated volunteers whose purpose is to support the Charleston Symphony, encourage talented young musicians and inspire classical music lovers for generations to come. The CSOL is the largest institutional donor to the Symphony, providing over $210,000 last year. The annual Symphony Designer Showhouse is the League's largest fundraiser. For more than 50 years the CSOL has actively supported music education and funding for the arts, donating more than $33,000 last year to music scholarships and grants in the Lowcountry.
In addition to the Symphony Designer Showhouse, the CSOL is hosting the following events:
- A car sponsorship for a beautiful Acura RDX. The winner will be drawn at a special noontime concert by the Charleston Symphony Brass, May 18, 2019 on Marion Square, King & Calhoun Streets in downtown Charleston. The CSO Brass will perform from 10 am until the time of the drawing. Sponsorships are available at the Showhouse and online.
- The third annual Pursuit of the Podium, in which several well-known residents of Charleston compete for the honor of conducting the Charleston Symphony during the opening concert of Piccolo Spoleto. Vote for your favorite candidate at the
All proceeds benefit the Charleston Symphony and CSOL Music Scholarships.
About 16 Rutledge Avenue
The three-story frame Queen Anne is built in the traditional Charleston side hall design, with an entrance on the street, a long stair hall, and living and dining rooms to the side. Double entry doors and a two-story projecting bay give the house a grand entrance. Numerous Queen Anne features include intricate shingle cladding, decorative hoods, cast iron trim and carved wood detailing. The beautiful double piazzas span both the first and second floors of the south side of the house, giving it the look of a traditional Charleston single house. The intricate spindle work of the balustrade adds high Victorian drama to this lovely home.
In addition to the foyer, living room and dining room on the first floor, a kitchen, great room and laundry room complete that level. There are two bedrooms, a study, and two baths on the second floor above the principal first floor rooms. A third bedroom and bath are accessed by the back stairway at the rear of the first floor. The third floor has two additional bedrooms, a bathroom and a loft.
The charming piazzas are accessed via elegant double French doors from the living and dining rooms and from the second floor bedrooms and study. The house includes five bathrooms, and gracious 10-foot ceilings and original fireplaces enhance the beauty of the first two floors.
Beautiful heart pine floors bring warmth throughout the house. 16 Rutledge is a perfect canvas for our talented team of designers from Charleston and beyond.
The house is generously provided by Wendy and Allen Gibson and represented by Margaret and Richard von Werssowetz of Handsome Properties.
