It’s easy to get caught up shopping along King Street in Charleston, but across the Ravenel Bridge there’s another equally historic lane with exquisite shopping for the home: Pitt Street in the charming Old Village Historic District of Mount Pleasant.
A perfect perch for accessing all that Pitt Street has to offer, the Post House, with its on-site tavern, is a wonderful place to spend a weekend on the coast. Constructed in 1896, the inn at 101 Pitt Street weathered iterations as the town’s office, a hardware store, a school, and a small hotel. It was reimagined in 2020 by designers Ben and Kate Towill to include seven guest rooms and a tavern with a chic patio. So enticing is the tavern that the innkeepers often refer to Post House as “a restaurant with rooms above.” The inn’s success—publications from Vogue to Architectural Digest have covered it—means that a tavern concept with boarders is back in style, or as the song goes, “. . . everything old is new again.”
Rooms, opened by brass keys with dark tassels, are peppered with vintage lighting, William Morris wallpaper, local art, and antique rugs. A trip to Post House feels more akin to staying in the home of a collector or a family friend with discerning taste than a hotel.
You can’t help but take design notes. Small yet simple details like a series of olive topiaries planted in olive gathering baskets will inspire you to redesign your hardscapes. And the interior palette of dust blue, rust, cream, and goldenrod sets a tone that’s timeless and comfortably traditional.
Simply walking around the neighborhood, with Shem Creek mere steps away, is fascinating. It’s clear that new construction was given loving oversight to blend with historic homes. But be sure to spend some time along Pitt Street, too, where each shop merits a deep dive with involved shopkeepers. During the time I spent browsing, I picked up several accessories for my own home, as well as a few gifts.
Perusing Pitt Street
Kate Miles Design Studio and Shop
A working design studio is my favorite kind of shop, and Kate Miles offers a dazzling array of, as their tagline states, “functional and decorative accessories for the home.” Custom pillows, tabletop items, bedding, seasonal paper products, coffee table books, rugs, light fixtures, lamps, and artwork fill the space. Walk behind the counter to shop for kitchen and dining items including trays, platters, and dishes. katemilesdesign.com
Out of the Garden
It takes a minute to absorb the menagerie of items available at Out of the Garden, one of the great stores in South Carolina for home-related gifts. Out front are divine woven dog beds, along with lanterns, batik table umbrellas, and metal items. Inside, you’ll find a wall of hand-blown glassware and a display of vintage juice glasses. There are stacks of printed cloth napkins, tablecloths, and hand towels, as well as kitchen items from cutting boards and bread bowls to antique dishes and new ceramics. In the back, check out the fresh flower bar, every variety of candle, and bar essentials. Ask for help locating what you’re looking for; they likely have several options. shopoutofhand.com/collections/out-of-the-garden
Out of Hand
Next door, make a beeline to the back of this high-end dress shop for floor-to-ceiling cases of estate jewelry and small sterling what-nots such as pill boxes, perfume bottles, pocket portraiture, wine coasters, and enamelware. shopoutofhand.com
Pitt Street Pharmacy
Beloved for its lunch counter and old-fashioned candy bar, this spot boasts a curated collection of vintage pharmacy jars, bottles, and instruments, all charmingly displayed. Treat yourself to a thick milkshake from the old-fashioned soda fountain, and shop for history books about the region and bath products from local cult favorite the Old Whaling Co. Make sure to snap a photo under the original neon sign announcing Pitt St. Pharmacy Rexall Drugs. pittstreetpharmacy.com
Gala Cafe & Bakery
When you need to pop open a laptop, Gala is the place to land. There’s wonderful coffee, tea, and other beverage offerings, plus a beautiful bakery case filled with scones, cakes, and cannoli that are filled to order. galadesserts.com
Wine Shop Old Village
With a tagline of “sure, wine not,” this local favorite is a fun stop for an afternoon libation or to buy a bottle of interesting wine to bring home. wineshopov.com
The Tavern at Post House
The Backbar Cheeseburger is a known commodity, so order it at least once during your stay—perhaps with one of the house cocktails. Among the seafood small plates, the Blue Crab Toast is phenomenal. I also enjoyed the shrimp with shaved fennel. theposthouseinn.com
A Brief History of Mount Pleasant
The existence of shell middens and shell rings bear evidence that the area now called Mount Pleasant was inhabited by indigenous peoples about 4,000 years ago. A map dating to 1715 indicates that the Sampa, Wando, and Sewee Indians once called this land home.
In 1680, Captain Florence O’Sullivan brought the first group of European settlers to the area. He was granted 2,340 acres of land that later became Sullivans Island and the village of Mount Pleasant. The village, named for one of the area’s early plantations, was laid out by colonist James Hibben in 1803 with 35 lots along five streets. His father, Andrew, established Hibben’s Ferry, the first ferryboat service connecting Mount Pleasant to Charleston.
By the twentieth century, Pitt Street was the place that residents of “the old village” shopped. Merchants included a hardware store, a grocer, a dress shop, a doctor, a dentist, a barber shop, an academy, and a pharmacy. It’s these buildings that house the modern shops and eateries of the Old Village Historic District today.
