Middleton Place- Charleston, SC

Just a few miles from Drayton Hall’s dramatic Palladian architecture and Magnolia Plantation’s impressive bridges sits Middleton Place, home of the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States. Based on classic design principles and precise geometric measurements, it’s a perfectly proportioned garden, with symmetry, vistas, and focal points. And yet, it is the house and outbuildings that excite me at this property. Here, the ghosts of the past speak loudest through the built structures, and they all have interesting stories to tell.

Although construction was started at the plantation by John Williams in the late 1730s, the property is named for his son-in-law, Henry Middleton, who completed the main house, its twin flankers, and the formal garden a few decades later. One of the wealthiest planters in South Carolina, Middleton owned upward of 50,000 acres of land, and 20 plantations. Clearly an overachiever, he also went on to serve as President of the First Continental Congress. His son, born at Middleton Place, would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence.

The main house Middleton completed was a comfortable three story Colonial brick structure, which ultimately proved to be too small for his lifestyle. Not lacking in land or money, in 1755 he constructed two large dependencies, or flankers, on either side of the main house. The north building contained a 10,000 volume library, a music conservatory, and an art gallery; the south housed the plantation offices and gentlemen’s guest quarters. Sadly, just ten years later, only one residential structure would remain.

Just months before the end of the Civil War, on February 22, 1865, Union troops set fire to Middleton Place, substantially destroying the main house as well as the north flanker, leaving only the stairs and portions of the brick buildings intact. Less severely damaged, the south flanker was restored by the family in 1869, and became their main residence.

Following an earthquake in 1886, the remaining ruins were reduced to a pile of rubble. In 1916, during a restoration led by Middleton descendant John Julius Pringle, some of these bricks were used by architect Bancel LaFarge to construct a stable and barn, while others were left in place to honor the past. At this time, they also began what would become decades of work to restore the plantation’s once grand gardens.

The graceful Georgian south Flanker, that vaguely reminds me of the Alamo from the front, proved more than enough space for the family, consisting of a large front hall, dining room, music room and several bedrooms. Times had changed after all- no one was building large complexes in the South following the war. The house remained in the Middleton family until 1975, when it was transferred to a non-profit for use as a museum, along with its contents, including portraits, Civil War memorabilia, and clothes.

Fortunately, several of the plantation’s outbuildings were spared by the Union Soldiers, including the 1851 Mill building, which was an operational garden folly, both useful and attractive. Also left intact was the Spring House, which contains an 1851 chapel used by the plantation’s enslaved. Located adjacent to the mill pond, surrounded by dramatically draped live oaks, it is one of the plantation’s most scenic locations.

Although my interest here lies in the built environment, the formal gardens are also exceptional. Built along a main axis, they consist of a reflecting pool, secret spaces, parterres, and a fabulous sunken octagonal garden. Behind the house, a series of terraces give way to two butterfly lakes, with the Ashley River beyond. At a remove, beyond the manicured areas, is a lovely cypress lined lake, reminiscent of the landscape over at Magnolia Plantation.

Although it takes planning, it is possible to visit the closely clustered Magnolia Plantation, Drayton Hall, and Middleton Place all in one day. For those who want more time to explore the vast properties, plan on just one of the plantations, and leave the rest for your next Charleston trip- there will always be more to see.