What Is a Charleston Freedman's Cottage? History, Layout, and Where to Find Them
Walk the upper peninsula for a few blocks and you will pass one: a narrow, single-story house one room wide under a gable roof, with a porch running down one side and a door opening onto it. It looks like a Charleston single house that forgot to grow a second floor. Locally it is called a freedman's cottage, and it is one of the most distinctive house types in the city.
This guide covers what defines the form, when and why so many were built, the ongoing debate over the name, where they survive, and what owners should understand about renovating or adding on to one. Sources are linked throughout.
What Defines a Charleston Cottage
The College of Charleston's special collections describe these buildings as one-room wide, single-story dwellings with side piazzas and a gable roof, a vernacular type that developed in the city after the Civil War. The Post and Courier has described them as scaled-down versions of the Charleston single house, sharing its one-room width, side piazza, and gabled roof, but only one story tall.
No Central Hall
The key difference from a single house is inside. A single house separates its rooms with a stair hall. A cottage has no central hall at all. As Charleston Magazine describes them, the rooms open directly into one another, each room has its own door onto the piazza, and a central chimney often serves back-to-back fireplaces. The piazza works as the hallway.
How Big They Are
These are small houses. Most originally held two or three rooms in roughly 300 to 500 square feet, and nearly all stayed under 1,200 square feet even after later changes. The National Park Service's listing for the Jackson Street cottages gives the same 300 to 500 square foot range. Over time many owners added rear or side rooms that created L-shaped plans, and some enclosed part of the piazza to gain a room.
If you want the background on how side piazzas work in the larger single house, our post on why Charleston piazzas face sideways covers it.
When They Were Built and Who Lived in Them
The cottages went up by the hundreds from the years after the Civil War into the early twentieth century. Charleston Magazine dates the type from the 1860s through the early 1900s, and notes that one developer, Isham Lanier, built dozens between 1898 and 1919. By the early twentieth century, the upper peninsula held more than 1,000 of them, according to the College of Charleston's archive.
They were working-class housing. Residents included newly freed African Americans as well as Irish and German immigrants and other working families employed in the city's mills and the phosphate industry. The houses were affordable to build, efficient on narrow lots, and suited to the climate, with the piazza catching breezes and shading the rooms.
A Documented Example
Some cottages do have direct ties to freedmen. The Simons Cottage on Sheppard Street was built in 1873 by Andrew Simons, a freedman. The Post and Courier reported that after additions it is now about 1,100 square feet and that its restoration cost more than $600,000, a reminder that a small historic house can still carry a serious restoration budget.
The Debate Over the Name
"Freedman's cottage" is the name most people use, but historians have pushed back on it. The term appears to have come into wide use only in the 1990s, and the Post and Courier's Robert Behre wrote in 2008 that the cottages had little to do with freedmen specifically, since so many were built by developers and occupied by a mix of working families. Charleston Magazine calls the name a misnomer and prefers "Charleston cottage." The College of Charleston archive notes that scholars disagree.
In practice, both names are in use. Listings, preservation groups, and the city's own review documents still say freedman's cottage, so that is the term you will see when you search for one.
Where They Survive
Most surviving cottages sit on the upper peninsula north of Calhoun Street, with the heaviest concentration on the East Side. The Post and Courier points to the area between Line and Mount Pleasant streets and the West Side, naming Line, Hanover, Sheppard, Nunan, Rosemont, and Nassau streets. Former city senior preservation planner Lissa D'Aquisto Felzer, who led a College of Charleston survey course in 2006 and published a book on the type in 2008, grouped surviving examples into four areas: the Lower Peninsula, the West Side, the East Side, and the Upper Peninsula.
You will also find them scattered through North Central, where the Board of Architectural Review considered an addition to a cottage at 610 Rutledge Avenue in 2023. Our Charleston Peninsula guide covers the neighborhoods where they appear.
How Many Are Left
No one has a current count. More than twenty years ago, a survey documented 106 cottages on the upper peninsula, and the Post and Courier reported in 2025 that the city was preparing a new count. That is a small fraction of the more than 1,000 that once stood.
Preservation Wins and Losses
Jackson Street
The four cottages at 193 to 199 Jackson Street, built in the 1890s, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They received a $2 million restoration using historic tax credits and won a Carolopolis Award from the Preservation Society of Charleston in January 2020.
Losses in 2024
The Preservation Society of Charleston has highlighted two recent losses. A cottage at 190 Line Street collapsed during a gut renovation in 2024. At 194 Nassau Street, a cottage was torn down and rebuilt even though the BAR had approved repairs only. Both cases are cautionary for anyone planning a major renovation: the condition of the framing matters, and so does sticking to what was approved.
Renovating and Adding On
Because the cottages are small, most owners eventually want more space. The question is how to add it without overwhelming the original house.
How the BAR Has Approached Additions
We found no city design guideline written specifically for additions to these cottages. The guidance comes from case-by-case review. The BAR's January 12, 2023 results for 610 Rutledge Avenue, a cottage dating to about 1920, give a sense of what the board looks for. Staff said an earlier version of the addition towered over and overwhelmed the historic cottage. Board members described a design for an addition that was not a camelback as encouraging, and the approval required the applicant to disengage the cottage from the new addition.
The takeaway: the board has favored additions that read as separate from the original cottage rather than a second story stacked on its back, and it pays close attention to scale.
Demolition Review
Most cottages are more than 50 years old and sit south of Mount Pleasant Street, which puts demolition under BAR review. Our guide to what the BAR covers explains the review areas in more detail.
Practical Points for Owners
Have the framing and foundation evaluated before you plan a gut renovation. The 2024 collapse on Line Street shows how quickly a small, old structure can fail once walls are opened.
Keep the piazza open where you can. It defines the house type, and enclosing it changes the form the BAR is trying to protect.
Budget realistically. A small footprint does not mean a small restoration cost, as the Simons Cottage figure shows.
Look at the property's permit and review history. Earlier approvals, or earlier unapproved changes, shape what you can do next.
Why Buyers Seek Them Out
A Charleston cottage offers something rare on the peninsula: a detached historic house with its own piazza on a manageable scale. The layout, with every room opening to the porch, suits the climate and the way people use outdoor space here. For buyers who want peninsula character without the size and upkeep of a three-story single house, a cottage is often the first thing they fall for.
FAQ
What is the difference between a freedman's cottage and a Charleston single house?
Both are one room wide with a side piazza and a gable roof. A single house is typically two or more stories with a central stair hall separating the rooms. A cottage is one story with no central hall, so rooms open directly into each other and onto the piazza.
How big is a typical freedman's cottage?
Originally about 300 to 500 square feet in two or three rooms. Many have since been expanded with rear or side additions, but nearly all remain under 1,200 square feet.
Were freedman's cottages built by freed people?
Some were, such as the Simons Cottage on Sheppard Street, built in 1873 by freedman Andrew Simons. Many others were built by developers and occupied by a mix of working families, which is why some historians prefer the name Charleston cottage.
Can I add a second story to a freedman's cottage?
Additions are reviewed case by case. In recent reviews the BAR has favored additions that stay separate from the original cottage and do not overwhelm it, and has been cautious about camelback designs.
Where are most freedman's cottages in Charleston?
On the upper peninsula north of Calhoun Street, especially the East Side, the West Side, and the blocks between Line and Mount Pleasant streets.
Conclusion
The Charleston cottage is a small house with a big story. It housed the working city after the Civil War, it shaped the look of the upper peninsula, and the survivors are some of the most distinctive small homes in Charleston. Knowing its form and history helps you see what makes a particular cottage worth protecting and what kind of changes will be welcome.
If a cottage on the upper peninsula is on your list, browse our neighborhood guides, see our current listings, or reach out and we can talk through what is out there.