Sunday Dinner at the Vincent Le Seigneur House

Appears in
Hoppin' John's Charleston, Beaufort & Savannah: Dining at Home in the Lowcountry
Hoppin' John's Charleston, Beaufort & Savannah

By John Martin Taylor

Published 1997

  • About

DR. VINCENT LE SEIGNEUR built his fine single house in 1819, embellishing it in the late Adam style. The house is situated in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, surrounded by a high stuccoed wall.

Outbuildings include a kitchen and slave quarters, now attached to the house, and a pigeonnier now used as a pool house.
The Le Seigneur house has handsome wood- and plasterwork, fan-lights, ceiling medallions, and architraves. Fluted columns support a double piazza that overlooks a delightful garden that provides cut flowers for spring dinners such as this one. The broccoli is steamed until just tender, then lightly dressed with high-quality extra-virgin olive oil just as it is sent to the table. Sherry is offered both before the meal and with the soup. With the meal, pour a Provence rouge or a Burgundy at least six years old.