Drayton Hall Plantation

Yesterday we toured Drayton Hall Plantation, which is just outside of Charleston.  Drayton Hall is the oldest remaining example of Georgian Palladium architecture in the United States.  It is also one of the oldest plantations in the United States that is still mostly in its original condition.  Since its construction in 1738, seven generations of Draytons lived in Drayton Hall.  In 1974, the family sold the plantation to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  The Trust decided to preserve, rather than restore, Drayton Hall and thus have worked to preserve items such as original paint, plasterwork, and flooring.  The house itself is in really good shape, especially considering it's steady use for nearly 250 years.  

The original owner/builder, John Drayton, built the plantation into a prosperous rice plantation.  As the second son, he inherited only money and slaves and not land.  Thus, he bought this property only a short distance from his family home.  He was so successful as a businessman that he owned approximately 70 plantations by the time of his death. 

Here's a picture of the back:    

Originally, there were huge and elaborate gardens behind the house.  However, during the Revolution, both Generals Cornwallis and Clinton of the British Army camped there.  Later, American armies also camped there.  Actually, both armies used it as as staging ground.  Unfortunately, these armies camped on the gardens, thereby destroying the gardens.  Later owners of the house did replant gardens in this area, but did not plant as elaborate of ones. 

This house is also one of three plantation homes on the Ashley River that survived the Civil War.  It is the only of these three that survived fully intact.  The exact reason is not known, but it is rumored that the owners spread rumors that residents had smallpox.  The homeowner at the time, Charles Drayton, was a medical doctor, so he likely treated people on the plantation.  Whether they actually had smallpox is unknown, but historians speculate that the fact that he treated disease on the plantation and that this was well known was enough to keep Union troops from venturing onto possibly "diseased" land.  

You can also see in this picture that the house has a full above ground basement.  There's also a doorway through the basement that allows you to travel from the front to the back of the house easily.  I believe the reasons for this full breezeway is both for the breeze and for symmetry.  Symmetry is extremely important in this type of architecture, and a doorway in the basement keeps the symmetry of the three floors in line.

If you turn around from where I took this picture, you can see the Ashley River.  It's not very far from the house, though is far enough to protect from flooding.  Here are some views from closer to the river:

You can see grasses growing on the banks of the opposite side of the river.  I believe those are sweet grass.  The slaves used sweet grass to weave baskets for everything from serving foods to carrying laundry (or items they picked in the fields).  Today, you can find baskets made of sweet grass for sale in stores all over Savannah and Charleston. 

And lastly, the view of the front of the house:

The pond she is standing in front of was added on by later generations in 1905.  It is also currently home to several alligators.  We didn't see them, but we did see several turtles and a frog.  Apparently, more recent generations of the Drayton family used to boat in this pond. 

The mound you see in front of the house is a remnant of a Victorian garden.  They used the dirt from excavating the pond to build the mount.  In Victorian times, it was grassy with a finial on top.  It also helped to create a circular drive in front of the house. 

To the sides of the front of the house used to stand two identical rectangular buildings.  Historians are not sure what these buildings were used for and are planning additional archaeological digs to determine their use.  There was also a fence of sorts from the sides of these buildings to the sides of the house.  A later drawing of the house show this fence made of iron.  However, the Trust recently received a digital picture of a watercolor of the house during the 1700's.  In that picture, the wall is made of brick.  So, the Trust plans to perform further excavation of the grounds once hurricane season ends. 

Here is a view from the second story porch looking out towards the road leading up to the front of the house:

You can see the mound much more clearly in this picture.  You can also see a well (dating from the 1800's) in the far right portion of the lawn.  The most recent family member to live there (Charlotta, who died in 1969) did run a pipe from the well into the basement.  This is the only sort of "running" water in the house.  The kitchen, at that time, was actually in the basement.  If you're looking at the front of the house, the kitchen was in the front lefthand corner of the basement.  The house has also never had electricity or true running water.  The privy is located about a 100 yards away from the house (on the same side as the new kitchen).  

And if you're wondering just how big the trees are now, here's a tree that's not far from the well:

Me thinks it gets plenty of water!  And remember, this tree likely survived the earthquake in the early 1800's (the epicenter was near Charleston and scientists estimate that it was at least a 7.0 on the Richter scale), countless hurricanes, and several hundred years of life.

This was such a neat plantation to visit.  Although the house is not furnished, it does have so many original pieces.  It was also really quite cool to see the transformation of the house over time as various family members lived there.  I only wish we'd had more time (we closed the place down) so we could have taken some of the walking tours around the grounds.  It is a truly amazing place!

 

Comments

[Munchkin Mom]

You left out the coolest tidbit about Drayton Hall, specifically, that men who married Drayton women had to take the Drayton name if they wanted to inherit the house.