The 66th Festival Of Houses And Gardens In Charleston

For 66 years, the Charleston Historical Society has hosted the Festival of Houses and Gardens.

The festival is held during spring's peak blooming season, so you can only imagine how gorgeous the gardens are.

There are 7 to 10 houses each day to tour, offering a rare opportunity to see the inside of homes dating back to the 18th century.

Let's take a tour of Charleston shall we?

This is your typical Charleston house, called a single house.

Notice the front door.  It opens to an open piazza (a Charleston term for a double porch) and garden.

Once inside, the front door is typically in the middle.  Inside the foyer, the living room faces the street and the dining room toward the back.  Stairway straight ahead.

The kitchen was usually in a separate building behind the main house.  Kitchen fires were quite common back in the day.

Now, the main house is connected with the kitchen, called a "hyphen."

Not all houses are single houses.

I think this home is just lovely with the brick and boxwood garden.

In South Carolina, you are allowed to take photos from the street only.  It is against the law to photograph on the property without the owner's permission.

Unfortunately, that means I didn't get any photos of the lovely gardens or inside the homes on the tours.

So with camera in hand, I took a million photos of the exteriors!

I wasn't the only one taking pictures!

There is just so much beauty here!

Shady paths and courtyards everywhere...

I can see why Charleston is known as the "city set in a garden."

Antique homes everywhere!

Unfortunately, we were able to take only one house tour due to the timing of our stay over Easter weekend.

So you can only imagine my delight and surprise when we were invited for cocktails at the lovely home of a mutual friend whose garden was on the tour!

Here I am posing with by BFF Maureen, our hostess Monica and her daughter Katie, thinking I've died and gone to heaven!
Thank you Monica for opening your home to us and for your hospitality.

It was the highlight of our trip, and quite frankly, the best home we saw!

For more information on Charleston's Festival of Houses and Gardens, visit their website here.

I'm joining The Tablescaper for "Oh the Places I've Been."

And The Winner Is....

1
No, you didn't miss a giveaway!

2

While walking through the streets of Charleston, I can't believe how beautiful the window boxes are.
One more beautiful than the next.

3
I made a comment that they must be having a window box competition.
Come to find out, they are!

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

If you were one of the judges of the Charleston Horticultural Society Window Box competition, which one would you pick as the winner?

Me?  I pick the first one.

The window boxes at our hotel, The Vendue Inn are just amazing with not only flowers, but Swiss Chard too.  

I'm going home with so much inspiration, and the first thing to do is replant my window boxes!

I'm linking up to Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday!

Magnolia Plantation And Gardens

 Magnolia Plantation in Charleston is a stark contrast to Oak Alley Plantation in New Orleans.

While Oak Alley is all about the home, Magnolia is all about the gardens!

But more importantly, Magnolia is rich in history.

There is so much to see here.  Of course the house and garden, but also a swamp, a zoo and original slave cabins.

The original, much grander house burned down, and a modest hunting cabin was later built.

Eventually, that house was added on to, and this is the original back stair entry to the home.

The 16 foot wide veranda is the best part of the house, in my opinion.

Inside, the floors are leaning here and there.

The furnishings are simple.

In the master bedroom, the quilt is all hand made by one person over the course of 20 years, with 12 stitches per inch.

A true masterpiece.

The bedroom downstairs has beautiful matching furniture which is black with hand painting.  

Just gorgeous.

Outside, the gardens are breathtaking.

All the azaleas are blooming and spring is just beginning to unfold here.

This is the oldest garden in America, with some sections being 325 years old!

It is one of the last large scale Romantic Gardens left in this country.

I almost felt like I was in Monet's garden!

Mr. A and I pose for a photo under a magnificent Live Oak, dripping with Spanish Moss.

After the garden tour, we checked out the zoo.

This guy does not look impressed with his visitors.

 The deer were so affectionate, as long as we had food!

I spied a red fox in the barrel, napping.

How cute is he?

The pig?

Not so cute!

I found myself humming "Old MacDonald!"

EIEIO....

 We even took a swamp tour and saw turtles, egrets and enormous bumble bees, but not alligators.

What I find amazing is that Magnolia has been owned by the same family for over 300 years, over 12 generations.  Orson Wells and Eleanor Roosevelt were entertained here!

It is rich in history.  The British invaded here during the Revolutionary War, and of course the Civil War also left its mark.

 

 There are five slave cabins still standing, dating back to 1850 that have been occupied until the late 1990's.

The Magnolia Cabin Project seeks to inform with respect the African-American slave experience and their vital role in shaping the South and American history in a 45 minute presentation called From Slavery to Freedom.

For more history and information about this historical gem called Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, watch this video.