Heyward-Washington House - Historic Charleston

Heyward-Washington House

Located in the downtown Historic District, within the area of the original walled city, this brick double house was built in 1772 by rice planter Daniel Heyward as a town-house for his son, Thomas Heyward, Jr. The City rented it for George Washington’s use during the President’s week-long Charleston stay, in May 1791, and it has traditionally been called the “Heyward-Washington House.”

Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746-1809) was a patriot leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and artillery officer with the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution. Captured when the British took Charleston in 1780, he was exiled to St. Augustine, Florida, but was exchanged in 1781. Heyward sold the house in 1794. It was acquired by the Museum in 1929, opened the following year as Charleston’s first historic house museum, and was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

Here you will experience a magnificent collection of Charleston-made furniture including the priceless Holmes Bookcase, considered to be the finest example of American-made furniture. Other buildings on the site include the carriage shed, with an 18th-century well just beneath, and the kitchen building (the only preserved building of its kind open to the public in Charleston), which was constructed in the 1740s. The exquisite formal garden features plants familiar to Charlestonians in the late 18th century, and the picturesque surrounding neighborhood was used by Dubose Heyward as the setting for Porgy and Bess.