Sweet Bottom Plantation - The Thompson House

The Thompson house at Sweet Bottom Plantation is more typical of the Charleston “Single” style home.  These homes have a design that is well suited to the hot, humid local climate. The one-room-wide houses offered welcome cross-ventilation in the days before air-conditioning.  They are only one-room-wide and the narrow end of the house faces the street. Two and Three-story porches, called "piazzas" in Charleston, stretch down the long side of each home.  They were designed this way to catch the ocean breeze and to fit deep narrow in-town lots that were laid out when the British first laid out the town.

Front Elevation

The street face of this Charleston Single style home

The Front Street Entry

This entry is typical of the "Single" style house as it enters onto the porch instead of the house proper.

The Verandas

The three porches or verandas open out onto the piazza garden.  Centered on the garden one finds the front doorway into the foyer.

The Entry from The Courtyard Garden

The Living Room

The Dining Room

Living Room Fireplace

The first view of the Living Room.

The Front Entry

The portable antique bar.

These portable antique bars were used in the old days for the owner of the home to transport and lock up fine liquors.

The Withdrawing Room

This private study is located behind the formal Living Room.  The original Charleston houses would have had a Drawing Room and a Withdrawing Room where people could retire to after dinner.

A Private Bar

A private bar, off of a back hallway, behind the Dining Room was included in the plan.

The Family Room

The Family Room is located on the back of the house and looks out through its screen porch to the back yard and the Chattahoochee River.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen and Breakfast Room, which are open the Family Room, also look out onto the back yard and river.

The Upstairs Sleeping Porch

The Master Bedroom

The Bonus/Media Room

The space over the three car garage at the back of the property accommodates the Bonus/Media Room.

The Downstairs Screen Porch leading out to the river.

The Front Porch with its colnnade

Another unique feature of a Charleston Single House is that the front door is on the end of porch! Yes, go through the front door from the street and you're on the porch, not inside the house proper. This is because the entrance hall is centered on the side of the house facing the piazza.

Three classical orders of columns were used on the porches.  It has Doric columns on the ground level, Ionic on the second level and Corinthian capitals on the third.