Nathaniel Russell House

This Federal-style townhouse in Charleston's historic district was completed around 1808 for the merchant Nathaniel Russell and is celebrated for its refined neoclassical interiors. Its most admired feature is a free-flying elliptical staircase that spirals upward through three floors without visible support. Restored to its original appearance with vivid period paint colors and fine furnishings, the brick house museum interprets the life of a wealthy merchant family and the enslaved people who ran the household.