Ever wanted to peek inside Charleston’s Rainbow Row? Home built in 1787 for sale

The homes along Charleston’s iconic “Rainbow Row,” with their varied pastel facades, offer passersby a bit of historic eye candy.

But have you ever wondered what one looks like inside and imagined the lives of the people who lived there over the last 200 years?

One of the homes, the Inglis Arch House — built in 1787 at 91 Bay St. — is for sale, and photos included with the real estate listing for the pale pink home offer glimpses of the interior, its private courtyard and gardens, carriage house and pool.

The home is listed for just under $5.6 million and the sale is being handled by broker-in-charge Debbie Fisher of Handsome Properties of Charleston.

It’s got four bedrooms, four full bathrooms and two half-baths in its 6,471 square feet.

The home originally was built as a store with a place for the merchant — a tea importer — to live above, according to the Clicks and Mortar real estate blog. In the Civil War, the buildings were heavily damaged, the blog says.

Then, in the 1930s, decorator and preservationist Dorothy Porcher Legge, had the idea to draw attention to the area by painting the buildings in Caribbean colors, according to the book “Charleston Architecture and Interiors” by Susan Sully.

Despite the fact that it’s a historic home, the Inglis Arch House has an elevator that will bring guests from the ground floor to the rooftop deck for sunset views of the Charleston skyline and the Cooper River and Ravenel Bridge.

A spacious dine-in kitchen features a Wolf gas range, double ovens and a “generous island,” according to the real estate listing.

There is a grand staircase to formal living areas on the second floor, where a red living room has a fireplace to warm up winter evenings and three sets of French doors to let a cool breeze in on temperate days.

A grand master suite, with walk in closets and “his and her bathrooms” plus a sitting room is on the third floor.

“A fourth fireplace, beamed ceilings, and arched doorways make this a quiet and relaxing owner’s retreat,” the real estate listing says.

Wood beams are also a highlight of the separate carriage house, with its high ceilings and French doors on three sides for access to the home’s gardens. It has its own gourmet kitchen, sitting room, bedroom, bathroom, powder room and study.

The carriage house opens into a garden “with an elegant pool, a large green space and commanding oak tree,” the listing says.

For more photos and information about the Inglis Arch House, visit the Handsome Properties website.

This story was originally published February 27, 2018 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Ever wanted to peek inside Charleston’s Rainbow Row? Home built in 1787 for sale."