3601 Devereaux Road
By 1929, Hugh M. and Edith Bray had constructed a residence within the original plat of the Heathwood subdivision from a design rendered by the local architectural firm of Lafaye and Lafaye. Led by its founder George E. Lafaye, the firm would have a significant impact on M.C. Heath’s new suburb, with more than 13 houses attributed to its talented designs. Among them were 1 Heathwood Circle and 27 Heathwood Circle. In addition to residential commissions, the firm, operating under a variety of names, was responsible for numerous public, institutional, commercial, and religious projects during the 20th century.
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3601 Devereaux Road, 2018. Historic Columbia collection
Lafaye and Lafaye’s Legacy
Lafaye and Lafaye, Architects
The firm that would become Lafaye and Lafaye began with the arrival of George E. Lafaye Sr. to Columbia in 1900. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1878, Lafaye came to Columbia to work with W.B. Smith Whaley, architect and engineer, who was a pioneer in the industrial development of the state of South Carolina. Lafaye later entered into a partnership with Gadsden E. Shand to practice architecture independently in 1903 upon the closing of Whaley’s office. In 1907, Shand and Lafaye, Architects and Engineers, dissolved and Lafaye practiced alone until 1920. His brother Robert S. Lafaye joined the firm, which then became Lafaye and Lafaye. For nearly the next two decades the firm produced some of the most significant buildings in the state. George E. Lafaye Sr. died in Columbia in 1939.
