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1 8 8 4 H I STO R I CA L H O U S E
S PA RTA N B U R G, SC
Southern Accents Mission Statement
Southern Accents Architectural Antiques mission is to
rescue, restore, and protect architectural elements of
historical significance. It is never our mission to tear down
or demolish any historical structure. We only come on the
scene after a structure has been scheduled for demolition by
the property owner. We are the guys you WANT to see
before the bulldozers move in. Our goal with any salvage
operation is to safely remove any and all architectural
elements that can be re-purposed and recycled. We view
each salvage operation as a rescue mission. Even when a
property can not be saved, many elements from the interior
and exterior can be salvaged and given a new life.
Preserving a piece of history for future generations is a
mission that we take seriously.
Although Southern Accents is a salvage company, we also
view ourselves as preservationists. In our continued
preservation efforts, we have embarked on a process of
documenting some of our salvage missions. Our goal in
documenting a structure that we salvage is to record its
history, therefore preserving its memory for future
generations. We do this by having our in house
photographer document the salvage project through
photographs. Our in house architect takes measurements
and draws out blueprints. We also work to gather as much
historical data as is available. All information is then
gathered, organized, and published online and in print form.
Bon Haven - Spartanburg, South Carolina
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Bon Haven, also known, as the Cleveland house, was built in 1884 by
John Bomar Cleveland (1848 – 1928) at a cost of $10,000. John was
instrumental in the growth and development of Spartanburg. Upon
his death in 1928 he was heralded as the town’s “first citizen.”
Cleveland was a founder and trustee of Converse College, a trustee
of Wofford College, and he played an instrumental role in
establishing Spartanburg’s city school system. He organized and
served as president of Whitney Mills and was instrumental in
establishing the town’s first bank, First National Bank of
Spartanburg. From 1904 until his death in 1928, Cleveland served as
vice president of the South Carolina Historical Society. He served in
the South Carolina House of Representatives between 1878 and 1880.
John and his wife Georgia raised six children in the Spartanburg
House. On rainy days the children would skate in the floored attic.
The house and property have remained in the Cleveland family since
it’s construction. The house has been vacant since 1995, upon the
death of the last family member to occupy the house.
John grew up with one brother, Jesse. According to accounts from
John’s only surviving great-grandchild, Dexter Cleveland, John and
his brother Jesse were very close. Jesse built a home on the other side
of town almost identical to Bon Haven. It was eventually torn down
and the land donated to build Cleveland Elementary School.
Bon Haven was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on
June 29, 1976. The following description was taken from the
nomination form.
“Bon Haven, built ca. 1884, is a Second Empire style structure located
in downtown Spartanburg, SC. Two stories set upon a raised granite
basement, it features a Mansard roof and large central tower.
The front facade is distinguished by the Mansard-roofed tower and
Ionic portico. The tower is square in plan with decorative corbeling of
Tudor design, and the Mansard roof is accentuated with oeil-deboeuf dormers. The four massive Ionic columns are set upon stone
bases and support a heave entablature, which is embellished with
modillions. Running the length of the second story is a piazza
supported by smaller Doric columns. Both the Doric piazza and Ionic
portico were added to the structure ca. 1920. The double front doors
are flanked by limestone paneled pilasters of the Tuscan order with a
segmentally arched transom above. French doors are located to each
side of this central portal.
The left side is basically a reiteration of the design of the front,
featuring a second story piazza and four Ionic columns supporting a
heavy entablature. At the far end there is a one-story porch which
extends around a portion of the rear. This porch is original to the
house and differs from the others by featuring slender wooden
columns with decorative fretwork, brackets, and flat–scrolled
balustrades.
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A brick kitchen is located at the rear of the structure. It was originally
detached from the house, but has since been connected.
The right facade is divided into three bays. The central section is
extended several feet and has three windows on both stories. The
side sections have two windows on each floor, the lower front two of
which are projected in an octagonal bay in the first section.
Windows are primarily 2/2 and are arched in a variety of shapes.
Some are semicircular, others segmental, yet others are Tudor.
Several of the windows have dripstone or label moldings, while those
along the Mansard roof have semicircular cornices.
Interior: The main floor features a central hallway with walnut
stairway at its rear. To the right of the hall are the drawing room,
dining room, pantry and breakfast room; to the left are the sitting
room, library and a bedroom. On the second floor there is a small
room at the front of the hall and three bedrooms on each side of the
hall. There is a tower room, and the attic is floored.
There are nine fireplaces, the original mantels of which were
removed in 1928. The front sitting room, dining room, and hall have
plaster rosettes, as did the dining room originally. The paneling in
the drawing room and front hall is walnut; that of the dining room is
oak. The wallpaper in the dining room is French (circa 1928). The
newel posts , and Octagonal fluted spindles, and handrail of the
stairway is of walnut. The threads and riser boards are of southern
yellow pine.
Surroundings: Bon Haven is situated on approximately 6.39 acres in
downtown Spartanburg, but is hidden from view by extensive
landscaping. To the rear of the structure were brick servants quarters,
to the side was a brick tea house and the remains of a formal garden.”
The rock for the granite foundation came from a quarry on the
original 91 acres. The bricks for the first story were made by hand on
the site. Lines were later painted in to represent the mortar joints. The
bricks on the second and third floor stories are machine pressed. The
window sills and front door frame are of Indiana limestone.
Visit our YouTube Channel to view a video tour of Bon
Haven.
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Mary Patterson Cleveland, the wife of John’s son, renovated the house in
the 1920’s and replaced the original wooden porch columns with ornate,
Tuscan limestone columns. Two-story Ionic columns on dressed granite
bases were added, four at each entrance. She also added a second story
piazza. Rumor is, Mary added the piazza because she wanted a place to
sunbathe. Access to the second story piazza was via the windows.
Entry from the front porch of this
magnificent house lead to the front
tiled floor foyer. The foyer was
enclosed by four sets of beautiful
double doors. The drawing room
lay beyond the doors on the right,
the keeping room on the left.
Beyond the foyer was a walnut
staircase leading to the second
story.
The foyer floor was tiled while the
walls were covered with French
wallpaper and walnut wainscoting.
The first floor also housed a
library, bedroom and bath to the
left and a dining room, pantry, and
breakfast room to the right. The
once detached kitchen was
located at the back of the house.
Behind and under the staircase
was a stairway leading down to
the boiler room.
Keeping room to the left of the front foyer. (Looking left from Foyer)
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Drawing room to the right of the front foyer.!
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The kitchen, located at the back of the house, was originally detached but
later connected to the house with the addition of an enclosed breezeway.
The walnut staircase leading to the second story included a mechanical
chair lift.
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The second story contained six bedrooms, each with it’s own fireplace.
Upstairs bedrooms.
The blue ceiling and little gold stars attached to it are the only reminders of
what use to be a nursery. It was in this second story room that one of the
babies died of crib death. We were told by one of the only surviving family
members that his grandmother never fully recovered from the death of the
baby, which might explain why the room was never repainted. At some
point shelves were added and the room was used to house well over 3,000
books.
On rainy days the children would roller skate in the attic. Names can be
seen scribbled on one wall. Records indicate that there was an Alice
Cleveland born in 1887 to John and Georgia Cleveland.
This stairway, located in the attic, lead to the tower room.
The tea house sits in the midst of what use to be a formal garden. This is
where many garden parties were held.
Bon Haven was one of the first
homes to have indoor plumbing. It
was the first private residence in the
area to have a fire hydrant on the
property, which was very unusual.
There were however unusual
circumstances associated with the
installation of the fire hydrant, John
Cleveland founded the first water
works!
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Towards!the!back!of!the!6.39!acre!property!sits!a!garage,!the!remains!of!what!use!to!
be!a!playhouse,!a!root!cellar,!and!an!old!chimney,!the!only!remains!from!what!was!
the!helps!quarters.!
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Bonhaven!was!known!for!it’s!beautiful!formal!garden.!Below!is!a!copy!of!a!speech!
given!by!Mary!Virginia!Cleveland!to!the!local!garden!club.!We!don’t!know!the!date!of!
this!document!but!it!is!obvious!that!Mary!was!extremely!fond!of!the!trees.!
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The!tree!above!has!an!unusually!
shaped!branch.!Whether!the!
deformity!was!by!accident!or!design,!
we!can!only!imagine!that!this!tree!
must!have!been!a!favorite!among!the!
children.!
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We!were!told!that!the!tree!shown!to!
the!left!is!an!unusual!variety!not!!
often!found!in!this!area.!
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The!following!blueprints!show!the!general!layout!of!Bon!Haven.!
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The!following!deed!was!filed!on!August!1,!1929.!Fees!and!court!cost!paid!was!$1.48.!
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