Since 1808, visitors have admired the grand Federal townhouse of Charleston merchant Nathaniel Russell. Set amid spacious formal gardens, the Nathaniel Russell House is a National Historic Landmark and is widely recognized as one of America’s most important neoclassical dwellings. The graceful interior with elaborate plasterwork ornamentation, geometrically shaped rooms and a magnificent free-flying staircase are among the most exuberant ever created in early America.

Located in Downtown Charleston near High Battery, the house is furnished with period antiques and works of art that evoke the gracious lifestyle of the city's merchant elite.

Today the Nathaniel Russell House interprets the lives of the Russell family, as well as the African American slaves and artisans who were responsible for maintaining one of the South's grandest antebellum townhouses.

Preservation via Acquisition:

The Historic Charleston Foundation Collection

Established in 1947, Historic Charleston Foundation works to preserve and protect the architectural and cultural character of Charleston and its historic environs. One of the primary ways that HCF fulfills this mission is through the interpretation of its collection and two museum sites: the Nathaniel Russell House, c. 1808, and the Aiken-Rhett House, c. 1820. These historic properties serve as the ideal exhibition space for HCF’s outstanding collection of fine and decorative art.

HCF’s efforts to preserve Charleston’s material culture as well as its built environment began in 1955 with the purchase of the Nathaniel Russell House. Since that time, HCF has assembled a collection of more than 3,000 artifacts. Many of the key decorative and fine art holdings have local provenances and were made in the Lowcountry. The early collection documents Charleston’s transformation from colonial outpost to grand cosmopolitan city. HCF’s 19th century artifacts, including the Aiken-Rhett family collection, enable the Foundation to also tell the story of antebellum and post-Civil War Charleston.

Acquiring and interpreting the collection is one of the many ways that HCF actively preserves the city’s rich cultural heritage. HCF remains dedicated to securing notable examples of decorative and fine art. Such collection initiatives are supported through the generosity of preservation-minded donors.

The Nathaniel Russell House is the southern-most point of Charleston's historic Museum Mile.

"...beyond all comparison, the finest establishment in Charleston." -Henry Deas Lesesne 1857