Facade

An imposing brick and marble house built for the daughter of a prosperous Columbia banker, the Lyles-Gudmundson house was designed by architect James Brite of New York. Located in Wales Garden, a suburb developed by Edwin Wales Robertson, the house was constructed as a wedding gift for Evelyn Robertson Lyles. Robertson, a Columbia banker, developer and entrepreneur, was responsible for much of Columbia’s early twentieth century development. From October 1918 until January 1921 construction was discontinued due to the difficulties of obtaining materials from Europe. The Lyles family moved in the house in 1922. The two-story Classical Revival style house features English bond brick with marble trim and a semicircular portico with marble columns on the east façade. The four two-story high fluted columns are set on a railing of brick panels and stone balusters. The portico has a full entablature of architrave with guttae, unadorned frieze, and cornice. Above the cornice the brick parapet contains six stone panels ornamented with three garlands. There are two chimneys which extend from the flat roof. A smaller wing on the west is recessed from the main façade. The entrance portico has four marble columns and two pilasters supporting a flat roof which is surrounded by a balustrade. A modified entablature and a brick parapet with marble trim top the building. Listed in the National Register March 2, 1979.

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