Charleston Vacation. Aiken-Rhett House

Today we visited the Aiken-Rhett House, which was built in 1820. It was expanded by Governor Aiken Jr in the 1830s and its considered a time capsule that has remained almost unaltered since 1858. It was great to see all a traditional South Carolina home, in the original style. Governor Aiken was a businessman and planter who owned about 700 slaves, most of them residing at his plantation. We got to see the slave quarters, which are considered to be the best preserved slave quarters in the country.

We went on a 45 minute audio tour, where Joe and I each had an MP3 player that guided you through the rooms and told stories about the people that lived there. We couldn't take any pictures inside the house, so we only have pictures of the outside areas.

The house is huge, with lots of windows and fireplaces in every room. I am sure at the height of its time, the house would have been absolutely gorgeous.


The downstairs of this building is the kitchen, with the upstairs being the slave quarters. There were 4 small rooms upstairs where the slaves slept. The stairs leading up to the rooms were the smallest stairs I have ever been on.


The "room" on the left is one of the outhouses. There was an identical one on the right side of the yard as well. The gates lead to the street behind the house, and this is where the horse and carriage would enter and leave the property.


Piazza's (porches) off of the drawing room. The "doors" that you go through are actually large windows. It is still common in Charleston to build houses with multiple wrap around piazzas.