Category Archives: Historic Homes

Plantation Tours Series – Estherville Plantation

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This post is part  of a series I’m doing on the 65th Annual Plantation Tours sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women of Prince George Winyah Parrish.  These posts will be interspersed with our regular eclectic offerings. 

Each year  plantations and town houses (most privately owned) are graciously shared with the public. A different group of homes is on tour each day.  As part of the tour of pre-Revolutionary and antebellum churches, town houses and plantations, visitors are invited to the Winyah Indigo Society Hall for tea each afternoon.

The dates for the 66th Annual Plantation Tours are March 22 and 23, 2013.

Estherville Plantation

I arrived at Estherville Plantation just as rain was threatening. The misty light was wonderful and imparted a fairy tale feel to the gardens.  It was one of the many times I wished I were a painter.  Or at least a better photographer who doesn’t rely on a blackberry to take all her photos.  Some of these may have been taken with my actual camera.  I tend to switch back and forth depending on battery charge.

Estherville has incredible wrap around marsh views.

The combination of azaleas and Spanish moss draped live oaks is breathtaking!

Add marsh view and my heart stops!

Photographs aren’t allowed inside the houses so all photos will be of the gardens.  The interior of the house is amazing with a screened in pool, big game trophies and lots of books. It’s beautiful and lived in and loved.

Here’s what the Plantation Tours brochure says about Estherville Plantation.

“On June 18, 1711, Winyah Barony, containing 12,000 acres, was granted to Landgrave Robert Daniel, who sold it the following day to the second Landgrave Thomas Smith.  Nothing is known of the history of his grant until 1732 when Landgrave Thomas Smith laid out a part of this barony as a second town.  From 1732 until his death in 1738, he tried to sell lots in the town, but was unsuccessful.  Georgetown was already growing, and two towns on Winyah Bay were not needed.  Subsequently, a portion of these lands came into the hands of Archibald Johnstone, who married Esther Allston in 1745.  It is she for whom the place is named.  Their great grandson Francis Withers Johnstone, planted Estherville in 1850, and records show that in that year he had ninety slaves who helped him harvest 300,000 pounds of rice.  Estherville remained in the Johnstone family until 1918.

Historically, Estherville is interesting as the probable site of the first experiment in tidal cultivation of rice.  Tidal fresh water presumably was brought from Minim Creek, a branch of the Santee River, through a large irrigation ditch or canal.  After the success of this experiment, this method of agriculture spread in all directions, vastly increasing the rice production potential of the South Carolina Coast.

The origianl house burned and the present dwelling was constructed on the old foundation in the early 1900′s.  Estherville is owned by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lucas Lumpkin, Jr. and Captain & Mrs. R. Parker Lumpkin.”

After the tour through the house we came out to beautiful sunshine!

Butterflies also enjoyed the azaleas and sunshine!

And for the finale, a rainbow!

 

Plantation Tours Series – Rice Hope Plantation

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This information is copied from a flyer given out at Plantation Tours and appears to be taken from Rice Hope’s website, http://ricehopeplantation.com/index.htm.  I am not the original author but the history is so interesting, I feel it needs to be shared.

circa 1836

Some of the most interesting and influential men in the history of South Carolina have been owners of Rice Hope Plantation.  colonial statesmen, inventors and businessmen have all felt an affinity for the pristine land that composes this serenely beautiful section of the Santee Delta.

The land composing Rice Hope was originally owned by Thomas Lynch who had emigrated from Ireland to South Carolina with his parents in the 1670′s, thus making the Lynches one of the founding first families of south Carolina.

Thomas Lynch, II.

Thomas Lynch Senior owned over ten thousand acres, which he acquired in various parcels.  The track that composes the present day Rice Hope was probably acquired from the brother of Thomas Lynch’s second wife, Sabina Vanderhorst.  Thomas purchased 390 acres from William Vanderhorst in 1756.

Thomas Senior’s land was passed down to his only son, Thomas Lynch II and ultimately to his grandson Thomas Lynch III. Thomas II and III are the famous father and son genealogical unit who were South Carolina’s delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelpia and as such they were designated signers of The Declaration of Independance.  Only Thomas Lynch III actually signed, because his father had a stroke and died before he was able to append his signature.

Thomas Lynch, III. Signer of The Declaration of Independence

By various marriages,, divisions and absorption with neighboring plantations, Rice Hope then became the property of Francis Kinloch, who had inherited almost nineteen thousand acres from his father James Kinlock.  During his student years, studying abroad, Francis had become a close friend of Henry Laurens.  Because he was descended from minor Scottish nobility, Kinlock served as a member of the British House of Commons, as a representative from berkeley and Craven Counties.  Kinloch was an astute businessman and became a highly successful rice and indigo planter.

Chimney. all that remains of a steam powered rice mill (not at Rice Hope Plantation)

Like the Lynch family, Kinloch never used Rice Hope as his primary residence, but Kinloch’s probate inventory indicates that there was a small sparsely furnished building on the site at the time of his death in 26.  this “house” appears to have been more of a working plantation office, yet Huger family tradition maintains that Lafayette was entertained at Rice Hope inn 1777 as he traveled from the Huger home back to Charleston.

Francis Kinloch, II

Kinloch’s estate passed to two of his younger sons, Francis Junior and Cleland Kinloch.  Rice Hope was then sold to an English merchant named George Lockey and his working partner Edward Crook in South Carolina.  Lockey died in England, leaving a legacy to George Crook’s heirs, one of whom was his daughter, Mary Crook who had married Johnathan Lucas, a millwright from Cumberland, England.  Shortly after the American Revolution, Johnathan Lucas purchased part of Rice Hope Plantation for 26,000 pounds sterling.

Johnathan Lucas apparently never lived at rice Hope, but used the plantation as a laboratory for his experiments to improve rice milling.  Lucas utilized water mills driven by the tides and his son, Johnathan Lucas Junior designed and improved his father’s work using steam driven machinery that greatly accelerated the complicated process of hulling rice.  due to the Lucas’ inventions, South Carolina Became the center of america’s rice milling industry.  Two millstones are incorporated in the walkways at Rice Hope as reminders of the plantation’s heyday in rice production.

Rice Hope was transferred to Johnathan Lucas Junior’s son, Somons Lucas, who continued to run the rice plantation successfully, yet seemed to share little of his father’s or grandfather’s engineering interests.  Because of the care he lavished on the property,Simons Lucas is believed to have built the existing house circa 1836, after a fire destroyed the original building on the property.  Simons planted willow trees, roses, camellias, and added the beautiful ornamental pond.  It is known that he also maintained a greenhouse on the property.

Simons Lucas great-granddaughter married Frederick Wentworth Ford and

Ford acquired rice Hope and ran it as a successful rice producing plantation until 1908 when a rare flood tide destroyed most of the rice fields along the Santee Delta.  After unsuccessfully trying to restore the rice fields, Ford sold Rice Hope to New York banker William Beach in 1926 as a hunting preserve.

Beach acquired partners and eventually reassembled much of of the land that had been part of the original parcel composing rice Hope.  Beach significantly remodeled both entrances to the plantation house built by Simons Lucas.  The “new front” of Rice Hope reflected the transition between arriving at the plantation via road, by motorcar, versus the traditional approach via the river, by boat.  Beach also added electricity and embellished the house architecturally, using Federal-styled woodwork and mantles salvaged from houses in peninsular Charleston that had been demolished during The Depression.

In the mid-nineteen fifties, Rice Hope was acquired by Williams Furniture Corporation of Sumter, South Carolina, then sold to a group of investors who re-sold the plantation to the present owners in 1982.

Rice Hope has come full circle and is currently composed of 392 acres, planted to attract waterfowl and provide a wildlife habitat for a wide variety of animals. This gem of the South Carolina Lowcountry is now carefully protected by a group of six businessmen for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.  The property is owned by Billy Ingram, Lee Jones,, John Nichols, Mark Stucky, Ged Tiller and Craig Wardlaw.  Bruce Gallup, Plantation Manager.

Broaching the Subject

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Thanks to Cindy Kinder, Directory of The Kaminski House Museum for this blog post!

Several years ago, an astonishing find was uncovered at the Kaminski House Museum. This find is still talked about today; in fact it is one of the favorite stories told by the docents at the Museum. This astonishing find was just a simple, but elegant broach.

In 1996, the Museum received a grant from the Institute of Museum Services to hire a Registrar, a temporary position. A registrar’s job is to catalog the artifacts in a museum. This means numbering and writing a description of an artifact for inventory purposes. In 1997, Michelle Parks, the registrar at the Museum was cataloging the artifacts in Julia Kaminski’s Bedroom, specifically the dressing table located in that room. In order to catalog this dressing table correctly, Michelle had to take the skirting off of the table and when she did, pinned to the underside of the skirting was a dusty brooch. Michelle dusted it off, examined it and concluded that is had to be just a piece of costume jewelry that Mrs. Kaminski had hidden behind the skirting.

This brooch was in the Museum for about a week. The staff at the time enjoyed wearing it, and wondered where it came from. Finally, Michelle brought it down to the jewelers to have it cleaned. While she was at the store, she called up the then Director of the Museum, Ralph Calhoun, and told him that they might have a problem with the brooch. As it turned out, this brooch was made up of 13 old mine cut diamonds, each being a different karat weight totaling 13 karats with the biggest diamond being 2.55 karats. To top it off, the diamonds were set in 14-karat white gold. The problem was, what would the Museum do with such a beautiful and one of a kind piece?

The Kaminski House Museum kept the brooch; it had no choice. When Julia Kaminski died in 1972, she left her house, the contents and the grounds to the City of Georgetown to be a Museum in honor of her late husband, Harold and his mother, Rose. Her will is very specific about how her gift to the City was to be used and who the governing body should be. It also states that if the City of Georgetown wanted to sell any piece from the collection, the proceeds from the sale would go to the Seeing Eye Dog Foundation. This means that the Kaminski House Museum had to think about how to secure the brooch since it could not sell it.

Julia and Harold

Today, “the pin”, as it is called, is in a secure place and only comes out for very special occasions. When it does come out in public it is well guarded by Georgetown’s finest.

This brooch brought up another question. Where did it come from? When the brooch was first found there were all sorts of stories about how Julia Kaminski attained the brooch. All of the stories, although juicy, were not true. The brooch, like most of the antiques in the Museum, came from Julia’s mother-in-law, Rose Kaminski.

When this story is told during the tours of the Kaminski House Museum, the next question that is usually asked is how did the Kaminskis acquire their money to afford such jewelry and antiques? The answer to this question is simple: the American way, through hard work.

It all started with Harold Kaminski’s father, Heiman Kaminski. Heiman Kaminski was born in Posen, Prussia, which is now Poland, in 1839. He emigrated from Prussia in 1854 to Charleston where he worked in a mercantile house. During the Civil War, Heiman served in the Confederate Army. After the War ended Heiman came to Georgetown and started working in a local hardware store. In 1867, Heiman started the H. Kaminski and Company Hardware Store. This store was very successful and expanded into dry goods. He later was able to expand his holdings into about five other businesses, including a shipping company.

In the late 1800’s the country was in the mist of a major recession, especially in the south. Along with this recession, Georgetown County was suffering the beginning of the loss of the rice culture that had made this county extremely wealthy. It is believed that Heiman Kaminski would extend credit to these one-time wealthy rice planters excepting furniture for payment of the supplies they needed. This is how the Kaminskis amassed such a fine collection of priceless antiques and incredible wealth.

The only way to see these antiques and to hear many more stories about the Kaminskis, is to take a tour. The Kaminski House Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM the guided tours are $10.00 per person. Call for tour times. The Kaminski House Museum is located at 1003 Front Street in historic Georgetown. For more information call toll free 843-546-7706.

 

Slavery and Rice on the Santee

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Historians agree South Carolina’s rice economy was the product of Anglo-American
entrepreneurship coupled with African-American know-how and labor. Simply put, the coastal
rice economy could not have survived without the knowledge of rice culture that African slaves
brought with them from rice-growing regions of coastal West Africa.
In his book, Black Majority, historian Peter Wood marvels: “Literally hundreds of black
immigrants were more familiar with the planting, hoeing, processing, and cooking of rice than
were the European settlers who purchased them.”
Almost as quickly as tidal rice became profitable, planters recognized the agricultural skill in
West African slaves. They showed great preference in buying these slaves. As one Charleston
slave merchant, Henry Laurens, remarked “Slaves from the River Gambia are preferr’d to all
others.”
Rice slavery on the South Carolina coast was truly a remarkable institution. Slaves brought their
own skills for rice cultivations that, as Peter Woods notes, differed very little from their methods
in Africa. “When New World slaves planted rice in the spring by pressing a hole with the heel
and covering the seeds with the foot, the motion used was demonstrably similar to that employed
in West Africa. In summer, when Carolina blacks moved through the rice fields in a row, hoeing
in unison to work songs, the pattern of cultivation was not one imposed by European owners but
rather one retained from West African forebears.
Peter Wood further notes that even the wide sweet grass baskets used in the fall to separate the
grain from the chaff were “a purely African design.” The design has changed little while
generations of African Americans have passed down the craft.


Even more unique to rice slavery was the “task system.” Rice slaves negotiated with their
overseer through a “driver” slave. Once the driver and overseer agreed on a reasonable amount
of work for a given week, the slaves set out on the task. After completing the work, any
remaining time belonged to the slaves. During this period, they were free to work their own
gardens, fish, and some even hunted wild game – though hunting was very rare. In contrast,
cotton plantations employed the “gang system” with no concept of free time.
The pens adjacent to the slave cabins indicate slaves kept their own livestock. Fossil evidence
from swine found around the slave cabins further suggests that Hopsewee’s slave population
supplemented their diet by raising their own animals.


Rice slavery was unique in two particular ways: the African influence and the task system. The
task system and slave’s own skills encouraged a degree of responsibility among slaves in
managing rice cultivation. This air of autonomy is further reflected in expressions of West
African culture. For example, the high roof with cypress shakes closely follows the high thatched
African style. The pattern follows the African tradition and serves a practical function by
reducing heat in the summer months.Slave’s responsibility for rice production is further expressed by those with important positions.
Head driver slaves negotiated the slaves’ weekly work and served as a foreman on work crews.
Other slaves were given the important responsibility of “trunkmaster.” Trunkmasters oversaw the
in and out tidal flow of water in the marshy rice fields. Proper control of water flow during the
growing season was essential to successful crops. Improper trunkminding could lead to salt water
in the fields, which would ruin the crop.


Freedman’s Bureau contracts between former slaves and masters in the post-Civil War period
kept many of the same arrangements as they had during slavery. Furthermore, these
arrangements provide an idea about slave life and labor expectations on a Santee Rice plantation.
Contracts, for example, included arrangements for handing out farming implements. As during
slavery, planters kept a close watch on their farming tools. Slaves sometimes purposefully lost or
destroyed tools as a means of “passive” resistance.
For more on these topics see:
Coclanis, Peter A. “Rice,” in The South Carolina Encyclopedia. Ed. Walter Edgar. Columbia: University of South
Carolina Press, 2006.
Littlefield, Daniel C. Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina. Urbana and
Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1981.
Wood, Peter. Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion. New
York: Knopf, 1974.
Thanks to David Dangerfield, Southern Studies Graduate Student, College of Charleston

And thanks to www.Hopsewee.com!

New Year’s Day – Southern Style

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Frank and Raejean Beattie hosted their annual New Year’s Day gathering at their home, Hopsewee Plantation.  The weather was wonderful and there is no better setting to enjoy the first day of the New Year.  The Beattie’s provided the country ham, collard greens, and hoppin’ john to make sure we have a lucky and profitable year and guests provided their favorite sides and desserts.  There is no doubt that Southerner’s enjoy their food!  For those not in the know, it’s a Lowcountry tradition to eat hoppin’ john for luck and collard greens for money on New Year’s Day.  All the food was excellent and guests should be a fortunate and wealthy group this year!

A scavenger hunt provided the opportunity to get to know other guests, with objectives such as, “find someone who has flown in a jet fighter,”  “someone who plays the cello,” and “someone who can touch their tongue to their nose”.  It was quite the conversation starter and a good time was had by all!

After eating, strolling the grounds provided wonderful photo opportunities.

The view of the North Santee River is always beautiful.

Conversation is always better under moss draped oaks.

Hopsewee has some of the most gorgeous camellias in the lowcountry.

Thank You to the best hosts in the lowcountry for the BEST New Year’s Day!

 Hopsewee was built 40 years before the Revolutionary War and is a national historic landmark that has been preserved rather than restored.  If are interested in the history of the house, tours, or weddings on the plantation, visit hopsewee.com .  The Tea Room at Hopsewee receives rave reviews from visitors from all over the nation.  I and my family love to visit it!   Check their website for current hours.

Trental

New Year’s Eve – Lowcountry Style

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One of the more popular ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the lowcountry is with family, good friends, and great food and drink.  If you’re lucky, you may get an invitation like the one above!  Mark and Tara Hakinson hosted a great party at King’s Crest in Murrells Inlet.

 The tables are ready for the oysters and fantastic appetizers are placed all around the house.

There’s chicken bog simmering on the stove for those who can’t wait for the oysters and the house smells wonderful.

The view from the dock is a great place to reflect on the passing of the old year and look forward to the new.

It’s really a pleasure to celebrate in a house with such history.  Here’s a brief history of King’s Crest.

“Prior to1906, Archie Woodward purchased this property for $150 and built the house around 1909. In 1920, J.W. King of Raleigh, NC and his wife, Capitola Holiday King of Galivants Ferry, bought it as a summer home at an auction for $1,985. “King’s Krest”refers to the family surname and the high point on which the home sits.

The King’s three children shared time at their parents’ summer home through the late 1930s. In 1941, one son, Dr. William King, and his wife, Mary Catherine Carter King, (Mama Kate) took title to “King’s Krest.” Together with their children and grandchildren they spent many summers at the family home well into the 1960s. Today, it is the 50 members of the fourth, fifth and sixth King family generations who enjoy “King’s Krest.” For generations, the kids have swung on the wisteria vines, jumped off the dock’s railing, bounced on Oliver’s joggling board, begged for hush puppies at the Oliver’s Lodge back door, ran in the creek with Roosevelt “Rooster” Pickett and Bubba Love, hung out at the old government dock, visited Eason’s store and enjoyed the July 4th family reunions.

“King’s Krest” is filled with generations of family memories, including old water skis, fishnets and pencil sketches. Many of the black and white photos hail from Chip Smith, local photographer who lives in the tree house apartment over the garage, circa 1930, once home for the King’s servants. The tree is estimated to be 150 to 200 years old.

In the dining room is Mama Kate’s writing desk, which used to face south in the family room towards the sitting porch. The bell on the fireplace was used by Viola, the family cook, to summon the Kings for breakfast. Viola, who daily walked from her home in Brookgreen Gardens to work for the Kings, remained with the family into the early 1980s.

Though there is an eating porch off the kitchen, the dining room table, two green chairs and buffet date back to the first generation King matriarch. The table is set with Mama Kate’s everyday china from the 1940s.

The upstairs sleeping porch was screened in after WWII and filled with army cots to accommodate Dr. King’s own growing army of grandchildren, who slept here until the 1970s, when A/C arrived. Recently the upstairs and downstairs porches were remodeled.

The Inlet side of “King’s Krest” has always been the front of the house given an old road that ran between the creek and the houses. Notice the rope swing that has been hanging from the old oak tree since WWII. The boys nailed steps to the tree, making climbing easier. Over the past 60 years, the tree has grown over one of those steps.

Christmas mornings for Dr. King’s grandchildren at “King’s Krest” means a visit to Belin’s church service followed by a romp in the Inlet to gather seafood. King’s Krest Christmases set the tone for a warm, cozy, creek side holiday, adorned with natural magnolia, cedar and cypress greenery and shells.”

King’s Crest is available for weekly rentals throughout the year by visiting this site. http://www.vrbo.com/23214

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antebellum Home Open for Tours

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Of the more than 60 antebellum homes in Georgetown, the Kaminski House Museum stands out as one of the most representative of the Georgian style architecture of the era. Built on a bluff overlooking the Sampit River, the Kaminski House is typical of the “single house” construction of the time. The narrow end of the home faced the street with the entry way located midway down one side of the building. A stroll down the streets of Georgetown or Charleston’s historical district will reveal many homes built in that tradition. The entry usually led into a hall leading to a staircase to the upper floor or floors. There would usually be a large room on either side of the hallway on all floors.

In the Kaminski House, the huge dining room is to the right of the hallway and the drawing room is to the left as you enter the home. The home was built by Paul Trapier, a leading merchant of South Carolina and sometimes known as “The King of Georgetown”. Born in 1716 of Huguenot parents in the French Santee section of Berkely County, Trapier moved to Georgetown and opened a small store. He soon became so successful he opened stores in Charleston also. By the 1750’s Trapier was considered one of the wealthiest merchants in the colony. During the Revolution, Trapier was active in supplying the military with provisions until the fall of Charleston to the British in 1780. Trapier gave the home and land to his daughter Elizabeth in 1769. It is assumed that the house existed at that time, but it is not clear from available documentation. Over the years the home was passed along to her niece who married John Keith whose family maintained it until 1855. From then until 1931, when it was purchased by Harold and Julia Kaminski, the home was owned by various owners including Thomas Daggett and George Congdon.  Harold was the son of Heiman Kaminski, one of Georgetown’s most prominent merchants during the latter part of the 1800s. He maintained holdings in shipping, rice and timber, dry goods, groceries and hardware. Julia was the daughter of John Pyatt, a product of “old Southern aristocracy”.   At her death in 1972, Julia Kaminski bequeathed the grounds, the house and all the furnishings to the City of Georgetown, suggesting it become a museum in memory of her husband, Harold. Harold served as Mayor of Georgetown and was instrumental in the development of the Coast Highway, improvements in the Inter-coastal Waterway and bringing inexpensive electricity to Georgetown. He also served as an officer in the US Navy during both World War 1 and World War II and was on duty in Pearl Harbor on the morning it was attacked by the Japanese. During their ownership the home was extensively renovated, modernized and furnished with the unique furnishings it contains today. In the years since Julia Kaminski bequeathed the home to the City, it has become a significant tourist draw as both an information center for Georgetown and a unique insight into the construction and furnishings of a bygone period. With a gift shop and daily tours conducted, many feel the house serves a unique roll in the ambiance of Georgetown as very few period homes are available for tourist to get the feel of the antebellum south.

 

Guided tours are given daily.  Please call 843 -546 -7706 for times  .Adults are $7.00.   Ages 6-12 are $3.00 and children under 5 are free.  There are group rates available.Tours of the Stewart-Parker House are available with the Kaminski House Museum tour for an extra $3.00.  The lawn of the Kaminski House Museum and the Stewart Parker House is available for weddings and other special occasions:Kaminski House Lawn:  $300.00 non-refundable user fee.  $200.00 refundable deposit.Stewart Parker House: $1,000.00 user fee plus $200.00 refundable deposit.Please call us to discuss dates and availability.

The Holidays’ at Hopsewee Plantation

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Christmas at Hopsewee

Although snow is infrequent and this photo was actually taken in February, Hopsewee Plantation can certainly put you in the Christmas spirit.  Don’t miss this lowcountry plantation during the holidays.

Hopsewee Plantation will welcome you with traditional decorations like the symbolic pineapple in arrangements like on this mantle.  Notice the candlestick detailing in the woodwork.

Hopsewee will be decorated with natural  things from around the grounds.  Don’t miss this chance to see an antebellum plantation for the holidays.

While there, don’t miss an elegant holiday Tea in the English tradition with flavorful Southern inspiration. The Tea Room at the charming cottage offers a delectable assortment of of savories, scones and sweets, with over a dozen varieties of English teas. A unique specialty is homemade, tea-infused jellies, including Arctic Raspberry and Earl Gray Cream Tea. One of the top-rated tea rooms in South Carolina according to teamap.com, the afternoon tea at River Oak Cottage consistently receives five-star reviews. Click for Menu

We now are pleased to offer our Hopsewee Blend House Tea blended exclusively for Hopsewee Plantation.  Beautifully packaged to remind you of your visit to Hopsewee. Order a box or a case by e-mail or give us a call.
Serving Tuesday – Friday from 10 am – 3:30 pm. Saturday Noon to 3:30 pm.  Occassionally we have groups that reserve the tea room or group tours that fill our tour space so we encourage you to call for Reservations.

Whether you are looking for a site for a rehearsal dinner, reception, anniversary celebration or private party, the cottage nestled beneath the river oaks of Hopsewee provides an ideal and unique setting.

Whether you’re holding a retreat, entertaining clients or celebrating a successful year, Corporate functions at the cottage are truly eventful.

Bordered by the natural beauty of the Santee River and surrounded by landscaped grounds and natural forests, the expansive cottage containing the banquet hall/meeting room can be supported by on-site or off-site catering in the adjoining professional caterer’s kitchen.

State of the art sound system, AV technology and internet access complete the combination, nestled in the heart of this privately owned plantation.

Amenities include the spacious deck and seating area on the river and the social area of the beautiful stone patio between the river and cottage. Box lunches and outdoor barbecues are other options.

Executive retreats, training seminars, client events, banquets, holiday parties and company picnics make this the newest, ultimate corporate event destination in a setting that boasts breathtaking natural beauty and gracious Southern hospitality.

Frank and Raejean encourage you to contact them and schedule a personal visit to plan your event.  Call 843-546-7891 to schedule your tour or visit.

Historic Home Still Welcomes Travelers From Around The Globe

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Built in 1765, what is now Harbor House Bed and Breakfast once belonged to Dr. Charles Fyffe, a Scottish physician and charter member of the Winyah Indigo Society. A British Loyalist, Dr. Fyffe saw his property confiscated during the Revolutionary War. From there Harbor House passed through several hands until its purchase by Herbert G. Tarbox in 1936.

Meg Tarbox, the present owner and innkeeper of Harbor House, is the granddaughter of Herbert Tarbox. The Georgian-style mansion, which has original floors of heart pine and eight fireplaces, underwent an extensive and immaculate restoration in the 1990s.

Sailors say the distinctive red roof is visible three miles out across the bay, and that the once plentiful sailing ships aligned their wheels to that brick-colored beacon when seeking entry to the harbor. Hence, the Harbor House has a long and storied reputation for welcoming travelers across the globe.