Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr built his home in 1885 to be a smaller replica of the house of his father, Governor James Lawrence Orr, which stood in a nearby section of Anderson. Today, Dr. Orr’s house is owned by the Anderson County Woman’s Club and is operated as a special events facility.
The Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr House is listed in the National Register:
Constructed in 1885 by Dr. Samuel Marshall Orr, this two-story Greek Revival style clapboard house has a front façade of four massive fluted columns supporting a broad, plain entablature with low-sloped, boxed cornice pediment. The cornices of the hipped tin-covered roof, pediments, and shed roofs of side porches are adorned with modillions. The front entrance consists of double doors surrounded by a three-light transom, four-light rectangular sidelights, and a pilaster molding that supports a paneled entablature. Directly above the front entrance a double casement window flanked by single casements opens onto a small balcony with a wooden balustrade. Piazzas extend halfway along each side façade and terminate at side entrances which have three-light transoms. The basic plan of the house is four rooms over four with a central hall and stairway. The divided open-string stairway with ornamental brackets rises to a landing and proceeds to the second story along a reversed single stairway. Dr. Orr practiced medicine in Anderson for twenty-five years and was also active in civic and industrial affairs. He served as director of the first building and loan association in Anderson, chairman of the medical board at the hospital, and president and treasurer of Orr Cotton Mills and of the Anderson Water, Light and Power Company. Listed in the National Register April 13, 1973.
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