11 Most Endangered

Philip Simmons' Workshop and Home

Year Listed: 2007
Location: Charleston , South Carolina
Current Status: Favorable
Threat: Deterioration

Latest News

June 22, 2009: Philip Simmons passes away at age 97. Read more.

The home of Philip Simmons in Charleston, South Carolina.

Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation

Significance

Beloved master blacksmith Philip Simmons (b. 1912 - ) spent the better part of 80 years adorning his hometown with intricate ornamental ironwork—gates, fences, stair rails and window grills—but with no plans to preserve his home and studio, the legacy of this artisan was in jeopardy. Philip Simmons' work is a significant character-defining feature in Charleston, a city that prides itself on its historic architecture and its preservation ethic. In the early 1930s, Simmons was one of 15 blacksmiths operating in the community, but now his forge is one of three on the Charleston peninsula.

Updates

Since 2007: The Philip Simmons Foundation received a sizable grant to fund the down payment to purchase the site from Mr. Simmons; he moved to a retirement and nursing community, and additional funds were received to use for a matching fund campaign to complete the purchase. The home is currently being renovated with a new foundation and exterior restroom with an access ramp to accommodate visitors. There will also be a gift shop on the premises. Stabilization of the workshop is scheduled to be completed during the year with the assistance of additional grants.

Since Simmons did not mark all of his earlier pieces, he could not recall everything he made. Efforts to catalogue his work began with Simmons being driven around the city to identify his creations. More than 550 pieces have been located to date, but this task is made more difficult because many of the new homeowners do not know they own a piece of Simmons' work; removed the ironwork due to renovation; sold it, or took the ironwork with them when they moved to another site. While the Philip Simmons Foundation has done an extraordinary job with little resources, greater visibility, funding and interpretation would assure that Simmons' work survives. Simmons' workshop draws tourists daily, but it desperately needs to be stabilized; currently, the structure has no interior walls or insulation and is not anchored, making hurricanes a constant threat. A resource as important as Philip Simmons' home and workshop should not remain in private hands, especially when Simmons himself is concerned about its preservation.