DeBruhl-Marshall House and Gardens
It all started when…
Lowcountry planter and notable citizen Jesse DeBruhl, purchased the property for his town mansion from Algernon Sidney Johnston circa 1820 while the brick house was still under construction. This classic Greek Revival style features a temple-like facade in the ancient Greek and Roman tradition. The union of a daughter, Elizabeth through marriage to Jehu Foster Marshall in 1843 reflects in the naming of the DeBruhl-Marshall House, remarkably, the residence of descendants for a full hundred years.
During the second hundred years the twentieth- and twenty-first century owners were preservation-minded individuals with an interest in the historic, architectural and aesthetic value of the property. In 1920 James Hagood Sams, a prominent architect, purchased the home. His wife Caroline regularly participated in organizations and clubs interested in commemorating and preserving the past including the William Caper chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Andrew Jackson chapter of the Daughters of 1812 and the Wade Hampton Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy.
In spite of the home’s recognition of significance by the national Historic American Buildings Survey (1933) and the erection of a South Carolina Historical Marker as part of the Sesquicentennial celebration of Columbia (1936), the DeBrhul-Marshall House fell in to a state of disrepair. In 1947 when efforts by a committee of the Colonial Dames of America to investigate and interest other organizations in the preservation of the handsome old DeBruhl-Marshall House failed, the chairman of the committee, May Bond Screven Rhodes, rescued the house by purchasing it. She was an active member of various groups and organizations in Columbia, serving as president of both the League of Women Voters and the Columbia Garden Club. Mrs. Rhodes decorated the home with a desire to be a center of social activity. The DeBruhl Marshall House was known locally as the “House of Brides”. Events such as these increased the home’s prominence.
In 1955, the Guide to Early American Homes and House Tours prepared by Richard Pratt, Architectural Editor of the LADIES HOME JOURNAL included the DeBruhl-Marshall House. In 1960 a DeBruhl Marshall Area of several blocks existed implying the importance of the home. In addition to receiving landmark status four years later the house was listed individually in 1972 in the National Register of Historic Places. In that same year Drs. Robert Nicholson Milling and Phillip Kenneth Huggins formed a partnership and purchased the home converting it to doctors’ offices. Rhodes, Milling and Huggins received commendations for their rehabilitation of the property in 1973 from the Historic Columbia Foundation.
When William Maxcy Gregg became owner of the DeBruhl-Marshall House in 1989, first as an owner of South Carolina Tees and later in his own name; he hired the Camden architect Henry D. Boykin who had experience in restoration architecture for office modernization. Gregg and Boykin’s designs earned an award in 1995 from Historic Columbia Foundation under its preservation and restoration category. Gregg hired landscape architect George S. Betsil to design a boxwood garden. Betsil’s landscape design remains in place and is now cared for and preserved by Dr. Wanda Gale Breedlove, the current owner since 2014.
Dr. Breedlove converted the care and maintenance of the DeBruhl-Marshall House and Gardens to a sustainable basis in keeping with her passion for preservation and the environment. Breedlove’s appreciation for the house’s history and architectural style have guided her in opening the DeBruhl-Marshall House as a “green” events venue as the DeBruhl-Marshall House’s 200th birthday approaches. With the aid of “friends” of the DeBruhl Marshall House and Gardens, University of South Carolina students and faculty, and City of Columbia and Richland County programs the maintenance, documentation and preservation of the DeBruhl-Marshall House continues. With your participation and support the DeBruhl-Marshall House and Gardens prepare for another two hundred years.
honors
Historic American Building Survey 1933
South Carolina Historical Marker 1936
Guide to Early American Homes and House Tours, 1955
Landmark District 1964; individual listing 1971
National Register of Historic Places 1972, Revised 2015
Commendations Historic Columbia Foundation 1973
Preservation and Restoration Award Historic Columbia Foundation 1995
Bicentennial 2020
OWNERS
1820 Jesse DeBruhl Lowcountry planter purchases for town house
1843 Jehu Foster Marshall marries Elizabeth DeBruhl
1920 Architect James and wife Caroline Sams involve organizations and clubs with preservation
1947 May Bond Screven Rhodes rescues property
1972 Drs. Robert Milling and Kenneth Huggins open doctors’ offices
1989 William Maxcy Gregg restores office building
2014 Dr. Wanda Gale Breedlove converts to sustainability and transitions home for special events venue