Beaufort’s John Mark Verdier House Has Been Restored
Downtown Beaufort’s John Mark Verdier House has recently undergone an extensive facelift. The home has served as a well-preserved museum since 1975, giving visitors a glimpse into the home of a wealthy Beaufort merchant and landowner. Master craftsmen have been working diligently since February to restore the exterior and return the house to its former glory. The work is now complete. A ribbon cutting and reopening ceremony will take place this Saturday, May 8th, at 10 am.
The house museum was built in 1804 by a successful merchant and planter. The house was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette on his southern tour in 1825, and later served as the Federal Headquarters by Union troops during the Civil War’s occupation of Beaufort. Luckily, the house remained in the Verdier family until the 1940s. It did, however, led a very colorful life in the early twentieth century. It served as a restaurant, telephone exchange and barber shop. These destructive uses put the house into disrepair. It was slated for demolition in 1944, but a committed group of citizens, that would later be known as the Historic Beaufort Foundation, acquired the house, renovated it, and opened it to the public in 1975.
The Verdier House was once called the Lafayette House because of the 1825 visit by the Marquis de Lafayette during his tour of the south.
