Guided House Tour

Welcome.  Guided house tours of the first floor of the plantation home are now available. The colonial revival mansion at Boone Hall was built in 1936.  Please check in with our staff in the hospitality center to schedule your house tour time. Knowledgeable tour guides lead each tour and will share about history related to the home as well as the plantation. No food, smoking, pets, or photography inside the house. We ask guests to meet on the front porch of the plantation home 10 minutes prior to the beginning of their scheduled tour. This handout will also provide you with a general overview of the house’s history.

• Please turn off your phones and cameras before entering the home.  PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT PERMITTED INSIDE THE HOUSE.
• Please leave strollers, food, and drinks outside.
• Please do not touch or handle the furnishings in any way.  Please do not open closed doors.
• Please maintain a distance of at least six feet between you and any guest who is not in your party.

The Boone Hall “big house” is a Colonial Revival-style mansion built in 1936.  It is believed to be the fourth house built on the site.  The first house, a small, wooden, cabin-like structure built by the Boones in the late 1600s, was destroyed by a fire.  The second house, similar in structure to the first, was blown down “in a great wind” – probably a hurricane.  The third house stood from the mid-1700s until 1935.  It was about 3,000 square feet in size, a two-story, wooden farmhouse, typical of 18^th century plantation houses in the Lowcountry.  Pictures of the third house are hanging in the Hospitality Center (#4 on the map).

BOONE HALL HISTORY

Boone Hall Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States for its connection with events that contributed significantly to the culture of the South.  It has maintained an unbroken tradition of productivity as a working plantation from 1681 to the present.  Six families have owned and lived at Boone Hall.  It is still privately held by the McRae family, who purchased the property in 1955.

Major John Boone of England was one of the early Lowcountry settlers.  When he married Elizabeth Patey, the daughter of another English settler, he acquired 470 acres of land along the Wampacheone Creek as part of her dowry.  It was here that the couple chose to settle.  The property was originally known as the “Patey-Boone Plantation.”  Over time, it acquired and kept the name Boone Hall.  John and Elizabeth’s son Thomas planted much of the Avenue of Oaks.  Their grandson Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer of the American Declaration of Independence.

Five generations of Boones lived at Boone Hall.  They grew two major cash crops, indigo and cotton.  As on other plantations in the area, enslaved workers made bricks during the winter season when fieldwork was minimal.  In the early 1800s, Boone Hall was sold to brothers Peter and John Horlbeck – 1,200 acres for $1,200.00.

The Horlbecks, who also owned Boone Hall for five generations, raised cotton, cattle and sold lumber from the property.  Most significantly, they enlarged Boone Hall’s brick production.  The Horlbeck brickyards were the first automated industry east of the Cooper River, and yearly brick production was well into the millions by the 1860s.  After the Civil War, the Horlbecks began growing pecans.  They planted approximately 15,000 pecan trees on 600 acres, making Boone Hall one of the largest pecan plantations in North America.  In 1935, the Horlbeck family sold the property to Thomas and Alexandra Stone.

When Canadian diplomat Thomas Stone and his wife Alexandra Ewing, an American heiress, purchased Boone Hall in 1935, they built the brick mansion that exists today.  Mindful of the historical significance of the plantation, the Stones used many reclaimed materials from the 1700s house in the construction of their 10,000 square foot mansion.  This is a tour of the first floor.  The current owners retain the upper floors as private space.

ENTRANCE HALL

The large, mahogany front door and the matching door to the library were taken from the 1700s farmhouse when it was dismantled.  The entrance hall floor is teak parquet.  The oak settee on the west wall is a replica of a 16^th century Flemish piece.  The clock is a grandmother clock, circa 1900; it has three sets of chimes.

The staircase is particularly special.  It is a cantilevered, or freestanding, staircase.  Made entirely of wood, it is not supported by the wall.  The bottom step is attached to the floor, and each step supports the step immediately above it, curving up to the second floor.

LIBRARY

The children of wealthy southern planters were taught by private tutors until they were old enough to go away to study, usually to Europe.  Often, the children’s schooling took place during the day in a large, multi-purpose room such as this library.  In the evening, schoolbooks were put away and the family and their guests would gather here to chat, enjoy music, play games, or do needlework.  The paneling in the library and in the dining room is cypress.  It was painted in the early 1940s.

Furnishings in the library include a Victorian camelback sofa from the 1800s, upholstered in rose damask.  The gold damask set at the far end of the room was hand carved in Rome, Italy, circa 1840.  The oil painting above the Italian marble mantle is “The Queen of May” by the English artist Kinsman.  The Knabe grand piano dates from 1896; the case is rosewood.  The Steinway concert grand dates from the 1930s.  On the opposite wall is a mahogany partners’ desk and an empire sofa dating from the 1800s. 

The crystal and brass chandelier, originally a gasolier, is French, circa 1840.  There is a matching chandelier in the dining room.  The wire in the bookcase doors helps to aerate the books, preventing moisture damage.

DINING ROOM

On a Lowcountry plantation, the largest, most important meal of the day was dinner.  It was enjoyed at three or four o’clock in the afternoon, while it was still daylight.  The multi-course dinner would last about two hours.  A light supper would be served later in the evening.

The cobalt and gold dinner service in the converted linen press is Imperial Royal Crown from Derby, England.  It is embellished with 22 karat gold.  The gold coffee service in the corner cabinet is Royal Albert.

Hunting was, and still is, a favorite Lowcountry pastime.  A breakfast for early rising hunters would be placed on the hunt board that graces the west wall.  Its small size enabled it to be moved outdoors for al fresco dining, perhaps after a hunt.  The screen was painted by Mrs. Nancy McRae in the mid-1950s.  The painting above the mantle is by the German artist Fuhrmann.

The dining room is dominated by a free-standing French pier mirror, circa 1840.  The mahogany is decorated with gold leaf; it stands on a marble base.  The buffet is Hepplewhite.  The dining table is Hepplewhite and can be extended to seat twenty-two guests.  The dining chairs are Chippendale.

LOGGIA

Loggia is an Italian word meaning “covered breezeway.”  The loggia’s floor showcases the beauty of Boone Hall brick, laid in a herringbone pattern.  Accenting the porch floor are two millstones that were originally used for grinding corn into cornmeal.  In the display case are several interesting items that have been found on the property over the years.

From the terrace, you may turn left and enter the formal gardens.  Thank you for visiting the house.