This is the John Mark Verdier House, known here as the Lafayette Building. Built in 1804 by John Mark Verdier, a French Huguenot, this house typified Beaufort’s gracious antebellum architectural style and once served as a true focal point of the town. It was a visible statement of Verdier’s significant wealth, earned from trading indigo and growing sea island cotton, and its presence shaped how people saw Beaufort for generations.
The house’s importance has been recognized: it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a contributing property in the Beaufort Historic District, which is a National Historic Landmark. It is also the only house museum in Beaufort, owned and operated by the Historic Beaufort Foundation. The museum opens for tours Monday through Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00; admission is $10.00 per person, while children and military are admitted free.
The house has also been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey. Indigo and sea island cotton paid for this house in 1804, and the streets of the Beaufort Historic District still seem to arrange themselves around it.