ATALAYA

Archer Huntington, son of transportation magnate Collis P. Huntington, and Anna Hyatt Huntington, noted sculptress, purchased Brookgreen and three adjoining plantations in January of 1930 as their site for a winter home and as a setting for Mrs. Huntington's sculpture. Construction of the house began the following winter. The home was named "Atalaya", a Spanish term for watchtower. Archer Huntington, a noted authority on Spanish history, designed the house after the Moorish architecture of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast.

Atalaya was built over a three year period, from 1931 to 1933, apparently without detailed written plans. Work on the building was not continuous, but divided between Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens. Archer Huntington, wanting to provide work opportunities for community residents during the Great Depression, insisted that local labor be utilized in its construction.

The outer walls of the building form a square, 200 feet on each side, with the front facing the ocean. Within the walled structure there is a large, open inner court with a small entry court at the rear. The living quarters consist of 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter. The large, one-story building is dominated by a square tower that rises nearly 40 feet from a covered walkway that bisects the inner court. It is functional in design, having contained a 3,000 gallon water tank made of cypress. Water drawn from an artesian well was pumped into a 10,000 gallon concrete cistern where the sand settled out. From there, it was pumped into the tower tank. The height of this tank gave the water enough pressure to flow through the house.





The covered walkway of open brickwork is lined with archways and planters on both sides. Living facilities including the dining room, sunroom, library and bedrooms, occupied the front portion of the house. The southern wing housed Archer's spacious study, his secretary's office and Anna's studio. The studio, with a 25-foot skylight, opened onto a small enclosed courtyard where she worked on her sculptures. Anna enjoyed sculpting live animals, therefore, facilities such as horse stables, a dog kennel and a bear pen were included in the construction.

Heating was done entirely by coal room heaters and wood fireplaces. Ramps, instead of stairs, lead from the courtyards up to each entry door, and wood was hauled in by small carts. Specially designed grillwork of handwrought iron and shutters were installed on each window to protect against hurricane winds, all of which Anna herself designed.

Most of the inner walls were covered with creeping fig vines to soften the appearance of the rough walls.The dominant tree growing in the courtyard is Sabal palmetto, commonly known as cabbage palmetto, the state tree of South Carolina.The small secondary palm is Butia Capita, commonly known as the Butia or Phoenix palm.

The Huntingtons returned to Atalaya after the war for their usual stay in 1946 and 1947. These were the last years they used their home.

After Mr. Huntington's death in 1955, most of the furnishings from the house were sent to the Huntington home in New York City.The equipment from Anna's studio was transferred to the new studio at Brookgreen Gardens. The 2,500-acre tract including Atalaya was leased to the state of South Carolina by the Brookgreen Trustees in 1960. Anna Huntington died at her New York home in 1973.

The history of Atalaya, the Huntingtons, and information on the natural history of Huntington Beach State park is included in a "Visitor's Guide to Huntington Beach State Park".