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Southern Home Charm

Staircases were the crown jewel of the center hall in the majority of Southern Antebellum homes. Curving elliptical and spiral staircases provided instant aesthetic appeal to anyone entering the home. Next to white pillars, a circular staircase was the most coveted feature of a plantation owner’s home. Evidence of this fact is the many pattern books of the day devoted exclusively to stair design and construction.

The prestige and majesty of the grand staircase, though, did not originate in the Southern states. Its fate, having moved through the centuries of architecture from simple transport vestige to status symbol was sealed during the Baroque period in Europe. During this era, many reception rooms were located on the second level, so the staircase in the center hall provided a functional connection between the spaces. Yet, as staircases tend to overshadow a space, attention to their aesthetic side was inevitable. Staircase design gradually became more ornate and it soon became part of the trappings of social status. The stature of the staircase would have been well-known to European settlers who emigrated to America.

It’s fair to say that the status of a Southern family was expressed as much by his staircase as by the façade of his home. It was thought that the sweeping shape of the stairwell allowed the home’s inhabitants to ascend and descend with the ease and grace befitting their importance. But as aesthetic appeal often trumped functionality in the Southern home, grand staircases became art objects themselves—the main showpiece of the central hall or entryway.

• Links for Spiral Staircases
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