Lacquered Life • Olivia M. Brock
My husband sent me a link to this article on My Science Academy, see here, that features 30 beautiful abandoned places all over the world. I hate to simply regurgitate something I have been sent, but I thought I would choose a few of the photos to share with you all. It is photos and places like these that are the reason I became a preservationist. If looking at these pictures somehow moves something inside of you, or you begin to tear up, then guess what? You’re a preservationist.
Saw this kitchen in this month’s issue of Country Living magazine, and I HAD to share it with you. The bricks, the tiles, the brass hardware, the windows … and of course the stove – my favorite. La Cornue, just like mine. The homeowner calls her kitchen look, “A little downstairs at Downton Abbey.” No wonder I am so taken with the space! For more information on this 1790s Old Chatham, New York farmhouse and the renovation done by the Frank family, click HERE.
A couple weeks ago in this post, I promised you all a post on Millford Plantation, and somehow it fell by the wayside. My apologies. Built between 1839-1841, Millford Plantation in Pinewood, South Carolina was the home of John Laurence Manning and Susan Frances Hampton. Both prominent South Carolinians, Susan was the daughter of General Wade Hampton and John was the son of South Carolina’s Governor (a position he later had himself), this project was started when the two were newly married and only twenty-two years old.
Millford Plantation is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the country. Designed by Rhode Island architect Nathaniel Potter, a student of the famed German architect Karl Friedrich Reichardt, and built with money that Susan inherited from her recently deceased wealthy father, the house was sometimes’s referred to as Manning’s Folly. It was perhaps a bit strange that such a young couple would build such a large and impressive house.
The house has only had three owners. After the death of Governor Manning in 1902, the house was sold to a wealthy NYC widow, Mary Clark Thompson, whose family owned the house until 1992, when it was purchased by its current owner, Richard Hampton Jenrette. Very few changes have been made to the property over the years. The Little Mansion, seen above, was added by the Clark family as a guest house, and Mr. Jenrette added the swimming pool to stave off the South Carolina heat.
And how did a house like this survive the Civil War? When the Northern troops arrived at the house in the spring of 1865, Governor Manning greeted their commander, General Edward Potter at the door. It is said that Governor Manning commented, “This house was built by a Potter, and will be destroyed by a Potter,” at which point the General replied, ” No you are protected, Nathaniel Potter was my brother.”
Photos courtesy of Adventures with Old Houses by Richard Hampton Jenrette. For more information on Millford Plantation, reference Adventures with Old Houses or www.classicalamerican.org