This Mansion Was Left To Rot Until..
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- Опубліковано 5 січ 2023
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When we imagine old plantations in the South, we might picture expansive lands, but not all looked like this.
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
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I’ve been here twice, both before and after Hurricane Hugo. I don’t think Governor Aiken would have thought of this as his plantation home but more of his suburban villa. The 7 houses across the street were all rentals he owned designed so the income would support running of the main home for each day of the week( or so our guide told us). HCF had opened it to the public and it fascinated me to see a lot of the old furniture piled in one of the attic rooms. I recall our guide telling us that Ion Rhett was forbidden to marry his fiancé and they had to wait until his mother died to wed and his widow simply closed up rooms for decades and lived in just a few rooms. You did a great job on this house, Ken. Thank you!
I had the privilege to tour this house. It's a very informative tour & the house is not deteriorating anymore. It is actually being kept in its current condition for historical information. Also Ken, it is not a plantation, that word refers to the "large" farm! And on the plantations the house was called a manor...this is a town home owned by a family who also owned plantation (s) which was very common.
I don't think that you are referring to my comment. I am extremely familiar with Charleston, being descendants of Charlestonians, my mother who wrote four books on the subject - of Charleston and by chance living in Charleston for 12 years. As for plantations in South Carolina, my family still owns one about 50 miles away that is used mainly for "sport" recreation and that sort of thing.
I love the houses in Charleston! I love how they are sideways. They are gorgeous!
One of the most beautiful houses in Charleston. Very sophisticated layout of rooms.
We visited this house last year and enjoyed it very much. It’s certainly worth touring.
Love the unusual layout and evolution of the house.
Misleading to call it an “urban plantation”, guess that’s the click bait way these days. It was an freestanding urban townhome like most of most wealthy planters of the time owned. No commodity crops were grown there. Slaves were owned and kept in urban environments in the South, just as they were on actual plantations. And to the comments about it still “ decaying”: it is has been the care of preservation experts for many years, and a lot of research and effort has been made to “preserve” it as is, not to “restore” or “recreate” what it once was. I’ve found it a fascinating museum to visit, and such a refreshing change from the average pristine, recreated house museums. It is a very special home for sure.
My favorite is the Nathaniel Russel house.
I agree, the Nathaniel Russell is beautiful!
@@michaelsteele8515 Best known for its staircase.
My favorite is the pen. I love how it writes and like the three colors.
I highly recommend that you do videos on the mansions of Main Line Philadelphia, old money and old grand homes!
I was married at The Willows in St. David's on the mainline. We toured several to consider which we wanted and the history is unique. So many families were devastated by the sinking of the Titanic.
Thanks for sharing this fascinating story!!!
I went and toured that house probably 22 years ago. It was really neat inside look like they just walked out of it.
I would love to see interior pictures, and guided tour. I LOVE everything about it , & and appreciate your channel.
The most interesting part was the slave quarters. Next time I'm in Charleston, I'm going to go see this house!
Charleston (and it's houses) is high on my bucket list of cities to visit . Excellent video.
It is a stunning city and you should also plan to see Savannah at the same time.
@@hobbesthecat6868 Both plus Natchez are on my bucket list.
@@LJB103 Don't miss the beaches either. If you like historic Jekyll Island is a must. Both the beaches near Charleston and Savannah have neat forts.
How refreshing to see a house of that era that isn’t suffocating in dusty layers of hoarded objects.
I wish the Old South was still alive and well.
I moved to SC 26 years ago. being an avid photographer and explorer. I've photographed homes, lots, buildings all over the state. many in Charleston. I am Also heavily interested in history as well as genealogy I looked up many of the properties and started making historical documents that filled in many of the blanks that surrounded these homes and businesses and people and families... I was as surprised then as I am now that a state such as S.C. that has untold history seems les then interested in protecting it... It's as mentioned 26 years now that I've been here.. and I can say without question there are few here that seem to care at all.
Super!!
There's still alot of large mansions in Battle Creek, MI alot of them were turned into half way houses in the seventies but they are still around
Beautiful staircases.
I love the grand staircase.
I’ve been to this place and it’s so sad to see it continue to deteriorate. 😢
Anyone who loves history, cuisine and architecture should visit Charleston SC and it's surrounding area - it is unbelievably gorgeous!
Exactly!
@@jennycallaghan1914 but don't tell anyone!🤭
Only a small part of downtown Charleston, some of the coastal islands and up and down the Ashley River is worth seeing. The rest is a dump. Trust me, I was stationed in that horrid town for 12 long years.
@@kennixox262 I docked at Ashley Marina for a couple of days and ended up walking through a scary part of town. But as you walk towards downtown, I loved the sideway(s) houses, albeit a small section. They were gorgeous. 1993.
A lot of old mansions/ ship captain's houses, on the coast of Maine, where I'm from.you could find some old stories with them.wasn't big on slavery here, back in the day.my great grandmothers old house is a queen Anne.
hope to see more new videos on historical homes in the United States
for a second i thought that said William Afton, i might be sleepy lmaooo
Any old houses in Arlington???
Robert E. Lee’s house
@@sandymccrone5676 thanks!
You’re welcome
I'd hate that oppressive heat and the condensation causing everything to be dripping wet, yikes!
Many old houses like this one have survived in the Charleston SC area - it's all about constant upkeep, repair and unconditional love rather than the geographical/atmospheric conditions.
Fall is spectacular however. I suggest the fall candlelight tours of the old houses. A lot of homes not open to the public are open for that. Charleston is no more humid than Florida and being on the harbor and between two rivers, there is a breeze at night - usually.
@@rustybearden1800 Fires, hurricanes, civil war, the 1886 7.2 earthquake, poverty and greedy developers.
It was a well appointed town house ,and indeed enslaved persons did do all of the work, the accommodations in the serving wings would’ve had floors of pine or bricks, and indeed upper servants governess and ladies maids /companions would have had better accommodations, and treated like miner gently
Hey I remember you
Well, if you had actually been in the house yourself and then down the the servants quarters, the remaining but non working gas fired light fixtures. Owned a single house myself a hop skip and jump away from the Aiken House.
Good vid
Just visited in November. Amazing property and well worth a checking out. My only wish is that the house would become a renovated property instead of a preserved museum. I would love to see the home brought back to its former glory.
As grand as this house is it is heartbreaking that slavery made it possible. Those huge balconies remind me of the buildings in downtown New Orleans.The deterioration of this house makes me recall an article in Architectural Digest in the 1970’s where they featured a story about two eccentric sisters who thought deteriorated things were interesting and they let their huge home fall into disrepair on purpose….they even pointed out a fungus growing on the ceiling.
How would you feed 900 slaves every day ??? No doors, open windows and dirt floors. Very cruel !
More than likely, the "owner" would probably let them fend for themselves. They generally had no care in the world for these people.
Now I understand why most plantation houses that are open to the public don't mention slavery. Thinking about the reality is very sad.
Ignoring it is even sadder
@@omgsockss yes. This Airken house would make a good museum to highlight the reality. From an on line search, it now appears to be a wedding venue.
I toured a mansion in Charleston. The guide referred to "servants" quarters. Everyone looked at each other quisically.
@@claudermiller wow, that's quite incredible.
Sad past
It’s such a shame that this beautiful home was built by such gifted enslaved people most probably received no acknowledgement for their gifts as builders and decorators. Before I pushed PLAY I knew that this house was in Charleston, SC. It’s oldest homes have a very unique style that’s easy to recognize. The octagonal room was such a clever use of the space. I’m glad that it is now lovingly cared for and is a museum and hope that the enslaved people who built, decorated and cared for it are mentioned in the tours. Without them there would’ve been no house at all.
So interesting the difference in the Slave quarters, very sad.
Ken, I watch all your videos, but I don’t understand why you seem to rush through these houses in every video. Is there a reason for this? Longer videos, speaking slower, or just giving us older people a few seconds of quiet to process the images, would also allow you to have videos long enough for the annoying but profitable advertising to pay for the productions.
I'm glad the family kept becoming poorer as time went on. It dispels the myth of these people having had accomplished so much on their own and illustrates it was the sweat of slaves that actually created their wealth.
Wrong…..capitalism was responsible….don’t be so angry…
That's a hypocritical attitude given the way that poor immigrants were mistreated treated in the north at the same time. Slaves were property, legally owned, no more abused than you would abuse a truck or a horse you'd invested good money in, and it was just taken away with no recompense. If abolitionists had legitimately wanted to free slaves they would have bought and liberated them, rather than giving money to terrorists like John Brown, we could have avoided war.
@@pdmacguire you are fukked up in the head. First I've seen people beat the shit out of their own vehicles. Second I've seen people completely trash their own home. The fact that someone owns something is no guarantee they will treat it well. As for your other point. When slavery was abolished in northern states people WERE compensated for their loss. That was the hope of abolitionists. And they did purchase slaves and free them. You're an uneducated fool parroting tired old tropes from the 1920s which were created to justify the treason of the Confederate States which resulted in the deaths of 650,000 Americans. It's your trash, own it.
Poverty after the Civil War is what preserved Charleston. In the 1920's a few tall buildings went up on Broad St, one down on the Battery, numerous buildings were knocked down for gas stations and shops and FINALLY in the early 1930's the Charleston Historic Preservation Society was created to ensure the preservation of the historic district. Owned a typical small single house myself and had to go through a lot to have a few windows replaced and got into a small bit of trouble after cutting a hole and installing a vent for an oven. The exterior of the home was deeded to the preservation society while the house itself was heavily damaged from Hurricane Hugo was totally rebuilt in 1990 and fairly modern on the inside. People would frequently peek in the windows and marvel that "Look its modern inside". Moved out west in 2005. My mother purchased it in 1966 and used it as a getaway home and I purchased it in 1994. Better enjoy Charleston while you can as it will be underwater by the end of this Century.
Has it been the inspiration for the chainsaw massacre house.🧟♂
I see pain & sorrow for my people in this home !
How can we ignore all the enslaved he kept ! South Carolina was not kind to those who worked in cane fields tobacco or cotton !
Lord bless my ancestors who perished before me
🙏🏾😢
I thought the same thing when I saw this. Aiken and his family were responsible for unkind treatment. May he rot in Hell for his actions.
Get over it,thin skinned.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
It should be allowed to deteriorate, as a reminder of its sad past. Repair it only enough to keep it standing.
When I consider the cruel slavery of the people who toiled there, it holds no interest or charm for me. It’s truly haunted by horror.
The same way that a lot of people all over the United States toil for "slave wages", no benefits, no upward mobility etc., today.
Slave owners were/are no better than pirates. Everything about this house represents ill gotten gains🤷🏼♀️
Yeah, But so do the homes of the most of the "robber barons". Of the truly rich, the likes of Heinz or Westinghouse are rare.
Would this also include the very large 17th - 18th century mansions in say, the UK as well? Much of the money that built those came not only from the slave trade, trade in cotton, tobacco and many other imports from America. How about the White House? It was built using slave labor. As for Charleston, the majority of the historic structures were built using slave labor.
I feel like all plantation houses should be torn down. I don't like the slavery aspect. It makes me uncomfortable. It's a beautiful architectural style but the history... I hate it.
Stupid viewpoint. That would be destroying history. Most of the 18th Century country homes were built on slavery, indirectly, as well. I guess you missed out on American history in school? Too bad. Since the White House and early parts of the U.S. Capitol building were built using slave labor, do you suggest those too be torn down? The computer that you are using was probably manufactured using modern slave labor along with the clothing that you wear.
I really enjoyed this video because Charleston,SC is my hometown, and I love it whenever, someone shines a light on it's beautiful architecture..