Journey with Jim and Stephanie to 32 Legare Street, Sword Gate, Charleston, SC where Stephanie photographed this beautiful setting and converted it into counted cross stitch. The wrought-iron gates leading to this property from Legare (pronounced le • GREE) Street bear an elaborate sword and spear design. Considered one of the finest gates in Charleston, they were made by the ironworker Christopher Werner “by mistake” when he was completing a similar pair for the Charleston Guardhouse in 1830. The gates were added to the house at number 32 in 1838. The three-story wooden house with fanlighted piazzas had been completed before 1810 by Solomon Legare and sold nearly a decade later to the Talvande family, refugees from Santo Domingo. Madame Talvande’s girls’ school was considered the best by Charleston’s elite in the 1820s and 1830s. By tradition, the high brick walls were added to enclose the property during this period. This has always been one of my favorite scenes in Charleston!