2615 Stratford Road
2025 Palladium Tour | A Century of Style
2615 Stratford Road
Constructed in 1930 for Jane Kealopher (1898-1975) and Arthur St. Julian Simons (1895-1973), this Tudor Revival home was designed by locally prominent architecture firm Lafaye & Lafaye. The house’s original aesthetic lives on through the expression of the half timbering, asymmetrical form, steeply pitched roof, and weeping mortar. Original architectural plans, dated August 31, 1929, show the house’s intended design endures today.
Arthur St. Julian Simons, a prominent businessman with the R. L. Bryan Company, purchased Lot 18, Block F in Forest Hills from Richard I. Manning in September 1929, four years after the neighborhood’s establishment. Simons had already enlisted the firm of Lafaye and Lafaye to design his grand home in the Tudor Revival style, which would make this commission one of the earlier of the twenty-nine homes the firm designed in Forest Hills. Arthur and Jane, who married in 1929, frequently entertained in their home, including hosting the wedding of Eleanor Wragg Simons to David Jennings Lucas on July 9, 1932, as well as numerous society events.
While the couple had no children, Jane was an active member of the Columbia Garden Club, Palmetto Garden Club, Junior League of Columbia, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Colonial Dames, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Richland County Library board. She was also involved in historic preservation in Columbia, playing a large role in establishing the original series of historical markers in Columbia as well as serving as editor of the Sesquicentennial Historical Marker Guidebook in 1939 and as a key founding member of Historic Columbia Foundation. The Simons family remained in the home until 1975 when Jane, who was predeceased by Arthur, passed away. The Owens family purchased the house and resided there until 1982.
The house has been expanded over the years, beginning with the enlargement and enclosure of the rear porch in 1958. Soon after purchasing the home in 1982, the Charping family constructed a large addition to the home’s rear elevation and added a pool to the grounds. William Charping was a prominent real estate developer who developed much of Myrtle Beach in the 1970s and 1980s. The family remained here until 2008 when the current owners, the Powers, purchased the home. The Powers undertook an extensive renovation of the home, which was showcased in the 2009 Columbia Dream Home Tour. Alterations included shifting the front staircase and some walls, expanding the kitchen, and some window replacement. The sunroom and kitchen were also renovated. While modifications have been made to the house over its nearly one-hundred-year history, the house’s original design intent and feeling remain as one of Forest Hill’s finest homes.
