The best little art house in town.

This little pink house at 17 Chalmers Street is the oldest stone house in Charleston.  Built in 1690 by John Breton, the house was constructed of Bermuda Stone.  The stone had a natural pink hue to it so the building from the begininng was known as the "little pink house."  Tradition holds that the Bermuda stone was carried over in ships as ballast.  This is the same way that the cobblestones used as street paving was brought to Charleston.  In fact Chalmers street is one of the few cobblestone streets that still remain in our city.

 Coral stone is soft enough to cut into blocks and when exposed to weather it gradually hardens and becomes stronger.  Coral stone is known for its elasticity.  This characteristic helped the building survive the great earthquake in 1886 as well as Hugo in 1989 that ravaged many of the buildings in the holy city.  Early on the building was used as a "groggerie" and coffee house for sailors visiting the port from all over the world.  The area at the time was a red light district called "Mullato Alley."  Around 1800 the area was cleaned up after many citizens complained of noisy parties at night.

"The Pink house is architecturally Charleston's most unique building."  It has only one room on each of its three floors with low ceilings and a narrow staircase.  Each of these three rooms housed a fireplace.  The huge fireplaces which were used for heating, but also for cooking are unusual since most of Charleston's houses had a separate kitchen building in the rear.  "The lowcountry black swamp cypress paneled walls lend a pre-revolutionary feel.  One can imagine long trestle tables on either side of the fireplace and rough sailors banging their mugs for more ale.

This building has been renovated may times of the years adding functioning plumbing and electricity.  It was renovated in 1956 by Frank Bailey and used as a law office.  The little pink house is still owned by the Bailey family and opened in 1994 as an art gallery.  "What was once a tavern and brothel has now become the best little art house in town."  Source (http://pinkhousegallery.tripod.com/)