Coffee shop to open in historic downtown Columbia house that once was a funeral home
Earlier this year, developers announced that a historic home across the street from the University of South Carolina’s law school would be converted into apartments and a cafe.
Now the cafe portion of that equation is coming into focus.
Knowledge Perk, a coffee company that currently has shops in Rock Hill and Fort Mill, announced on social media that it would be opening a shop at 1527 Gervais St. in Columbia. That’s in the W.B. Smith Whaley House, a historic structure that for years was the location of Dunbar Funeral Home.
Renovation and construction work already is happening at the site, including work to expose a large porch on the house that has long been enclosed. The house on Gervais Street is an example of Queen Anne architecture and is instantly recognizable to people traversing Gervais Street because of its soaring turret on the southeast corner of the building.
Knowledge Perk has not announced an opening date for the Columbia shop and advised on Facebook that fans should keep an eye on its social media pages for opening details.
On its website, Knowledge Perk describes itself as a “small-batch roastery with a mission to transform the way you experience coffee and the global community that brings it to you.” A company tagline describes the experience there as “Full Coffee Immersion.”
Per the state Department of Archives and History, the house at 1527 Gervais St. was built in 1892 and 1893 by W.B. Smith Whaley. An entry from the home’s National Register description said Whaley “specialized in the design, engineering and building of cotton mills as well as in the construction of residences” and was responsible for the design and construction of the Olympia, Granby and Richland cotton mills.
Developers said earlier this year that six apartments also are being developed in the upper floors of the home.
