Tour of Homes

220 E. Liberty St.

A pivotal house. Built about 1853, this house was probably copied from a Robert Mills design. A National Register site, this 1 ½ story antebellum building has a medium gable roof. On the front is a 1 ½ story portico with a gable roof and four columns. A recessed transom and sidelights with lattice work frame the main doors. Below 6/6 windows are lintels. Lattice work highlights the cornice. The building sits on a raised brick foundation and is said to be one of the truest examples of the “raised basement” type of house. Lifted well above the ground, it takes full advantage of the circulation of air. Exterior wall material is clapboard. The house originally had outside circular staircases leading to each end of the porch.

George Washington Seabrook Hart (1851-1925) came about 1872 to Yorkville from Wadmalaw Island, a sea island near Charleston, in hopes that the higher altitude would be beneficial to his acute asthmatic attacks. He “read law” under Major James Franklin Hart (no relation), who evidently helped make it possible for the young man to buy this property.
G. W. S. Hart married Ellen Almene Hacksett [1860-1940] in 1877. They became parents of eleven children, two of whom, Brig. Gen. William Lee Hart, U.S. Army Medical Corps, and Rt. Rev. Oliver James Hart, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, were included in Who's Who in America. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Robards are the present owner-occupants.

South side East Liberty Street