Sullivan's Island Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

19 www.SullivansIslandMagazine.com | www.SullivansIslandHomes.com in their family for 108 years, passed down to children through the generations. The Waring’s three children, Charles, Rosamond and Thomas, inherited the property and shared it until the 1950s, when Harry Salmons, who was married to Rosamond, bought out the shares of her brothers and transferred ownership to their children, Rosamond (Rosy) and Richard Waring Salmons. When Rosy died, her three children, Russell, Rosamond and Marian Lawson, inherited her half of the house, and, when Richard died, his son, Richard W. Salmons Jr., inherited his share. The three Lawsons eventually sold their partial shares to Salmons, who owned the property until 2018. When Carolina One Real Estate Realtor Brigitte McElroy’s clients Carolina Stucken and Bryan Lewis closed on the home on August 29, 2018, it marked the first time in more than a century the house has been owned outside the Waring-Salmons family. Stucken and Lewis, who are married but go by different last names, had been living on Sullivan’s Island already but were seeking a house with a waterfront view. They first glimpsed the Waring-Salmons home before it went on the market. Its charm and history delighted them, but, when it became available, they wavered because of the huge renovation project it would entail. The house never had HVAC installed, but gentle sea breezes blow through the home’s wraparound screen porch and large doors that open out to it. Like many houses in this historic district that were traditionally used as seasonal summertime residences, the architecture was specifically designed to catch the breezes coming in off the harbor. Rosamond Lawson, the great-granddaughter of Laura Witte Waring, who retained a partnership in the home until 2005 when she sold her share to Richard W. Salmons, Jr., wrote a book about her recollections of the house called “Closing the Door: Memories of a Family Beach Home.” Lawson, who refers to the home as “granny’s house,” explained the story behind why air conditioning was never installed. The home sustained considerable damage after Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989. Lawson’s parents Rosy and Louis drove down from their home in Virginia to help renovate the house during 1989-90. Rosy requested that the house be restored the same as it was before Hugo, which meant no air conditioning. Rosy died in 1990, but the home has remained sans HVAC ever since. Despite this, Lawson recalls fond memories of relaxing [ Feature ] Back of the house. Laura Witte Waring – “Granny” – who, with her husband T.R. Waring, purchased the property in 1910.