In its over 200 years of existence, 11 Montagu Street has been home to generations of just 5 families, including several remarkable women. Its story is a combination of its owners’ architectural visions and the circumstances of history. It begins when the lot was purchased in 1818 for the widow Elizabeth Schmidt, whose father also lived on the street. She began to build a home, but perhaps because her father died the next year and her son the year after, she never finished nor lived in the house. In 1828, Mrs. Schmidt sold the property to grain merchant Robert Conner, who completed the structure you see today.

The 3-story single house combines Neoclassical and Classical Revival elements into a transitional style between the British Georgian and the more American Adams style. Constructed of brick with a scored stucco exterior, the original part of the main house follows the classic Charleston single floor plan with double piazzas and a particularly exuberant piazza door. The interior door is simpler, with bullseye medallions. Likewise, the piazza columns are plainer Tuscan order, and considerably wider than most in downtown Charleston. Inside, a center stair hall is flanked by living and dining rooms on the first floor and 2 corresponding bedrooms on each of the upper levels.

The kitchen building, now part of the guest wing, was originally separate from the main house and consisted of 2 stories. Like many downtown brick structures, it was seriously damaged in the great earthquake of 1886. When rebuilt, it was reduced to one level, but retains high ceilings and the smaller upper windows that used to belong to the second floor.

In 1840, Mr. Connor died, leaving the estate to his son, also named Robert Conner. As the younger Mr. Conner was a minor, the house was sold on his behalf to exchange broker John Stock at a price of $10,000 (around $359,000 today – imagine the bargain for a downtown Charleston home!) Like the current owners, Mr. Stock lived at 11 Montagu for over 40 years, until his death. The house then passed through 2 generations of his nephew’s Mitchell family. At some point in the 1880s, they added the polygonal projections to the second and third stories to accommodate spacious bathrooms, as well as the corresponding piazza bay below.

Then in 1910, the property was acquired by Mrs. Rosa Hirschmann for $6000 (or $415,000 today). The Hirschmanns were a prominent Jewish family whose founder, Solomon, has come to SC in the 1870s as a peddlar. He moved his wife, Lena, two sons, and three daughters (Henry and Joseph, and three daughters, Katie, Cecile, and Rosa) to Charleston in 1883 and established a wholesale grocery, S. Hirschmann and Son on East Bay Street. The store was well-known in the community for providing credit and support to fellow Jewish immigrants. Henry Hirshmann (the son in Hirschmann and Son) married Rosa Sternberger (1876-1945), a college classmate of his sister (also coincidentally named Rosa) in 1896. The Sternbergers were another well-known SC Jewish family. It Mrs. Hirschmann purchased 11 Montagu Street and made it her family’s home for the next 53 years. Together, she and Henry raised 5 sons and 2 daughters here.

Rosa Sternberger Hirschmann was avid supporter of women’s rights who advocated for girls to receive educations equal to boys. To that end, she taught Sunday classes from the porch at 11 Montagu Street to “Rosa’s Girls.” This pioneer was also superintendent of the Brith Sholom’s Daughters of Israel religious school for almost 30 years, president of the KKBE Sisterhood, and a Grand Matron in the Eastern Star. Mrs. Hirschmann also held positions with South Carolina Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Federation of Women’s Clubs. In addition to her civic and philanthropic endeavors, Rosa ran the family grocery business along with her sons for more than a decade after her husband Henry died.

Other notable members of the Hirschmann family include Henry’s younger sister and Rosa’s classmate and sister-in-law, Love Rosa Hirschmann Gantt (1875-1935). She was one of the first two women to graduate from the Medical College of South Carolina in 1901 and only the second woman in the United States to be board-certified. However, her belief in eugenics adds controversy to her accomplishments. One of Henry and Rosa’s sons who grew up at 11 Montagu Street, Joseph Mordecai Hirschman, was an architect with the notable New York firm Walker and Gillette.

Mrs. Hirschmann took out permits to add to the house in 1933 and to remodel the original kitchen building in 1936. Then in 1963, the house was sold to the Holsclaw family. The Holsclaws in turn sold to the the Robertson family in 1979. In 1981, they demolished the 1933 rear addition and built the current hyphen that accommodates the modern kitchen and wonderful 2-story atrium. The Robertsons also connected the original kitchen to the main house, creating the guest wing. For 45 years, Rob and Martha Ann continued the long tradition of raising generations of their family here. Now you have the remarkable opportunity to add your name to the list of stewards who have made 11 Montagu Street their family home for centuries.