Aiken-Rhett House

Address:48 Elizabeth St.
Charleston, South Carolina
Tel: (843) 723-1159

Built for Charleston merchant John Robinson in 1817 as a typical double house, Aiken-Rhett House is the best preserved and restored building from before the Civil war, and serves as a testament to the virtue and history of the Charleston people, its beliefs and representations.

The home was purchased by a successful businessman and rice planter, William Aiken. When Aiken passed away only a few years after his purchase his massive fortune went to his family. Aiken's son and new bride began extensive renovation of the property when they decided to make it their permanent home. The front entrance was moved, first floor reconfigured, and a large addition was made. The home was, by all accounts, one of the most impressive in all of Charleston. William Aiken, Jr., ultimately became governor of South Carolina, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, and one of the states largest slaveholders. He was elected governor of South Carolina in 1844 and became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1851.

Aiken-Rhett House is the most intact townhouse complex in Charleston, with some of the best preserved slave quarters in the Southeast. Visitors will get a vivid image of what life was like as a slave in this household. Moving and riveting, the slave quarters are not to be missed.

In 1857, final renovations were made to house the art collection the Aikens had acquired during their travels in Europe. The interior was completely redecorated, and a gallery was constructed. Since then, no renovations or alterations have been made to. Aiken-Rhett House. The beauty is intact, the wealth displayed, as you step into this wondrous home from history's illustrious past.

Take I26 all the way south and head left on King St. Make a left on John and another left on Elizabeth. Aiken-Rhett House is on the corner. You won't want to miss it.

The Historic Charleston Foundation recently purchased the house from the Charleston Museum and has reopened it for tours. Portions of the house will be used as part of a multi-site African American History Museum. Plenty of space will be left in its many rooms for other periods and subjects of history. This was the largest house in Charleston during the war. What makes it remarkable today is that it is nearly unchanged from its 19th. century condition. Early in this century that large portions of the mansion were sealed off and left unvisited and unused for over sixty years. The elderly residents lived in a small portion of the huge house, recluses keeping company with a past so precious to them they refused to open most of the rooms to visitors or the light of day Though stories about the Dill sisters continue to circulate today, they generously bestowed this great house and hundreds of acres of prime property on James Island to be preserved for nature and history, including the site of Ft. Pemberton and a half mile of Civil War entrenchments, on James Island.