Villa Margherita – Charleston, South Carolina

The Villa Margherita is a historic mansion located at 4 South Battery in downtown Charleston. The home was financed by Andrew Simonds, founder and president of the First National Bank of South Carolina, and given to his wife Daisy as a wedding present in the mid-1890s.

Simonds recruited famed New York and Chicago architect Frederick P. Dinkelberg to design a home that would reflect his expanding fortune. Dinkelberg’s design combined the emerging Beaux Arts style with the popular Renaissance Revival style. Key features of the home include the Corinthian-columned portico, a second-floor ballroom, and South Carolina’s first indoor swimming pool!

Plans to restore the mansion to its former glory have been proposed, but so far little has been done. Photographer Brandon Coffey notes, “You look at it now and it’s so neglected – the columns are crumbling, but it’s still beautiful.”