102 Southwood Drive
J. Carroll Johnson House
With an architecture degree from the Armour Institute of Technology, Swedish-born John Carroll Johnson accepted a position with the Columbia firm of Wilson, Sompayrac, and Urquhart in 1910. During his first decade in Columbia, Johnson designed many public works as well as over 30 houses within the Hollywood and Rose Hill neighborhoods. Johnson planned his residence, completed in 1925, with the unique feature of an attached garage, a new trend that became more prevalent with the automobile age. The stoop's turret-shaped roof is reminiscent of Norman architecture from which the gifted architect drew his inspiration Within two years of his coming to Columbia and working with Wilson, Sompayrac, and Urquhart in 1910, Johnson established a partnership with Urquhart. This arrangement led to a number of important commissions including Columbia High School (1915) and South Caroliniana Library (wings in 1927 and 1928) to name just two.
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102 Southwood Drive. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia
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J. Carroll Johnson. Image courtesy Andy Chandler
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The J. Carroll Johnson-designed home of local builder J. Stuart Rawls at 224 South Gregg Street stands shrouded in snow, circa 1958. Image courtesy Thelma Rawls
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One of J. Carroll Johnson's most impressive accomplishments was his design of 21 Heathwood Circle for physician Robert E. Seibels in 1927. Image courtesy Bob Seibels
Johnson's legacy on residential design, while considerable within the Hollywood neighborhood, also reached into other Columbia neighborhoods, both in terms of new construction and in the rehabilitation of earlier buildings. Some of his most celebrated designs for new structures included commissions for the Senate Street house of Benjamin F. Taylor (1910-1912) and two houses for Dr. Robert E. Seibels in 1927 and 1933, respectively.