At 1615 Blanding Street, the Hampton–Preston House spreads its broad veranda and Doric columns in front of you. This historic mansion, listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 29, 1969, was built in 1818 for wealthy merchant Ainsley Hall and was purchased a few years later by former War of 1812 general Wade Hampton I, a wealthy cotton planter. His son Wade Hampton II and grandson Wade Hampton III also resided here at various times, and after Hampton I's death ownership passed to his daughter Caroline and her husband, State Senator John S. Preston.
In the latter part of the American Civil War the house served as headquarters of Union Maj. Gen. John A. Logan during the occupation of Columbia. In 1890 the South Carolina Presbyterian Institute for Young Ladies acquired the mansion.
The house is post-Colonial, Classical Revival in style: a broad veranda stretches across the front with Doric columns and a fanlight above. Step inside in your imagination and picture the sweeping circular stairway with mahogany rails and the crystal chandelier that hangs in the middle of the hall; the rooms are spacious. Notice the Doric columns lining the veranda beneath a fanlight that frames the entrance.