In December I was delighted to find myself photographing some of the most wonderful historic homes in South Carolina. All the homes are managed and owned by South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
The first home is Redcliffe Plantation, it is a Greek Revival home that was completed in 1859 and sits on 369 acres in Beech Island, SC. All these homes are open to the public and have tours for a small fee.
The second home is Rose Hill Plantation, a Federalist-style house built in the early 1800's in Union. It is a beautiful home with fantastic gardens and many orginial buildings, including the brick kitchen and sits on 44 acres.
The last home you will see is the Hampton Plantation in McClellanville. The orginial home was built in 1740 and was modest and in the 1760's additions were added and the portico was added in 1790. George Washington visited and was responsible for saving an oak tree in the front yard, now refered to as the Washington Oak. The last owner of the home was Archibald Rutledge who was South Carolina's first poet laureate and a book of his poems, called "Deep River" was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he came in second, to poet Robert Frost.
To learn more about these homes and other great places to visit in South Carolina, go to www.southcarolinaparks.com, which is loaded with information, maps, photos, everything you need to plan a visit.
