Renovation Rodeo | Kilbourne Park
Thursday, November 14th 2024
Palladium presented Renovation Rodeo | Kilbourne Park on Thursday, November 14, 2024, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Nearly 40 guests toured this circa-1940 home while enjoying beer from Columbia Craft Brewing Company, wine courtesy of Republic National Distributing Company, and delicious food from Something Small Catering. This event was proudly sponsored by Lizz Grimm with ERA Wilder Realty, Hardy and Brittany Childers, and Garvin Design Group.
Throughout the year, Palladium features a property that has undergone—or is undergoing—an impressive renovation. From tiny 1940s bungalows to turn-of-the-century mansions, and everything in between, these events give you a chance to tour properties, learn about their renovation, and have a great time doing it. And they're FREE for our Palladium members!
What the records tell us about 4017 Devereaux Road:
- 1940: 4017 Devereaux Road was constructed in 1940 as a “new and modern 7-room brick bungalow on lot 85 by 200 feet.”
- The plat was deeded to Ruth A. Thain on May 31, 1940, from Lelia B. Manning.
- Ruth & Mark Thain were residents of the neighborhood and lived on Kilbourne Road. Their names were also attached to deeds of other nearby residences, including on Devereaux, Beltline, and Belmont. This could be the result of Mark Thain’s trade as a builder. Thain was also a longtime employee of Gibbes Machinery Company.
- There were certain restrictions on the land in this area at the time that date to the creation of the neighborhood in 1933, including:
- No residence may be leased or owned by "persons of African descent."
- No residence constructed may be worth less than $3500. An exception was made for "servant houses" on the same property.
- No store or business enterprise may be erected or run on these residential lots.
- At least some of these restrictions remained legally enforecable until the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
- The plat was deeded to Ruth A. Thain on May 31, 1940, from Lelia B. Manning.
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1928 Tomlinson Engineering Map showing Kilbourne Park and Heathwood neighborhoods. Image courtesy of Richland Library, Columbia, SC.
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Tidewater Supply Company, located at 1224 Lincoln Street, circa 1935. Image courtesy Bicentennial Photograph Collection, Richland Library, Columbia, SC.
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May 17, 1955, Columbia Record article showing the newly elected President of Wildwood Garden Club, Mrs. R. L. Ellis.
- January 1941: Robert Ellis and May Welch Ellis purchased the recently completed 4017 Devereaux Road. The couple lived here until their deaths nearly 40 years later.
- Robert Ellis: born on James Island in 1891; World War I Navy veteran; employee of Tidewater Supply Company in Columbia for 27 years; died 1979.
- May Welch Ellis: born 1886; housewife; died 1980. Her mother was Elizabeth Cooper Coker Welch, a descendant of Thomas Cooper (learn more here). May was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames of the XII Century, King’s Daughters, Wildwood Garden Club, and United Daughters of the Confederacy.
- 1981: House sold to August Kohn Strasburger.
- Father Alvin Strasburger served in World War II, flying 65 missions and receiving numerous service honors.
- Father Alvin Strasburger served in World War II, flying 65 missions and receiving numerous service honors.
- 2001: House sold to Charles Hampton Johnson II and Louise Patterson Boylston (now Louise Myers Johnson), who lived there at the time of their marriage.
- HC Connection! Louise’s daughter is Palladium board member Bellinger Boylston, who grew up in the home and gave the following insight: "In 2010 a tree fell on the front dormer window (my bedroom) and left a gaping hole. Rain came in and damaged the whole front of the house. We had to do major repairs."
Pre-renovation and renovation progress images of primary bathroom and kitchen
Renovation:
Contractor: Hometeam Renovations and Repairs
Recent renovations were done in the primary suite to remove a hallway, creating a larger bathroom and closet; addition of a powder room off the main living area; reconfigured the kitchen by partially removing a wall to open the space; and upgrades to the enclosed sleeping porch.
About Kilbourne Park:
The Kilbourne Park neighborhood is situated between Kilbourne and Trenholm roads; however, homes in the eastern section of Heathwood are sometimes included because they fall outside the original boundaries of the Heathwood neighborhood. Established in 1914 by Moses Chappell Heath, Heathwood was initially bounded by Garners Ferry, Heatherwood, Kawana, and Albion roads. The homes from Kawana to Beltline were developed after Heathwood’s origination, likely starting a decade later in the 1920s. Lots were sold by the Kilbourne Park Company and W Coleman. Early 1920s advertisements for homes in the Kilbourne Park neighborhood called it “The Garden Spot of Columbia” and “Among the Pines”. Its roads and drives were installed while the nearby Heathwood neighborhood was being developed by M.C. Heath and Harlan P. Kelsey, a landscape architect. The city streetcar even ran in the neighborhood for a short while before it ceased operation in 1927. This section of Kilbourne Park first appears on a plat drawn in 1933 for "proposed lots for subdivision of Col. George H. McMaster." These lots were subsequently purchased by the Manning family, perhaps due to bankruptcy, and several were developed by Ruth and Mark Thain during the onset of World War II.
The Thomas Cooper Connection:
Thomas Cooper became the second president of South Carolina College (University of South Carolina) in 1820. He was born in England in 1759 but left in 1794 and settled in Pennsylvania, where he worked as a lawyer and physician. He was a Pennsylvania state judge and grew more conservative over time, becoming a supporter of states’ rights when he settled in South Carolina to assume the college presidency. He had a total of eight children, one of which was Thomas Priestly Cooper, the grandfather of May Welch Ellis. Thomas Cooper died in Columbia in 1839 and is buried in Trinity’s churchyard. The main library on USC’s campus is named after him. Like many white women who came of age during Jim Crow, Ellis was proud of her connection to leading antebellum figures and was very active in the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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The above research was compiled by members of the Palladium Board education committee with assistance from Historic Columbia's research staff.
Event images courtesy of Historic Columbia. Renovation images courtesy of Kara Hamilton. Before images courtesy of CMLS.
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Palladium
Palladium members don't just learn about Columbia's past - they have a say in its future. Our fundraising events support Historic Columbia's important preservation and advocacy work, which in turn helps preserve the charm and vitality of the city we call home.