Nathaniel Russell House

The staircase alone earns the trip. Built in 1808 by Nathaniel Russell — a Rhode Island merchant who made his fortune trading captive Africans — the house at 51 Meeting Street is recognized as one of the most important neoclassical houses in the United States. The cantilevered, three-story flying staircase is its defining feature, each step supporting the ones above and below it. Historic Charleston Foundation bought the property in 1955 to prevent its subdivision and has been restoring it to its 1808 appearance ever since. The estimated eighteen enslaved people who lived and worked here are part of the story the house tells.