Imagine a house so frozen in time it takes you back more than 250 years. That’s the story of Drayton Hall Plantation on the Ashley River near Charleston, S.C. It took four years of painstaking construction by European and African American craftsmen to build this Georgian-Palladian mansion.
From its completion in 1742, seven generations of indigo-rice planters kept their magnificent home intact. No plumbing or electricity was added. No central heating or air conditioning was installed. There were no changes made to the original paint, woodwork, or plaster. Nothing about the exterior design was altered. This powerful historic artifact survived the American Revolution and the Civil War, a catastrophic earthquake, and numerous hurricanes. Its sense of timelessness and continuity is unparalleled.
Bought in 1974 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Drayton Hall is now a museum with a mission to educate the public about historic preservation. An active off-site outreach program includes media presentations, as well as virtual web tours welcoming visitors from around the world.
Today, Drayton Hall has become something of a high-tech laboratory. Cutting edge methods are being developed at Drayton to shore up weakened beams and foundations and repair crumbling plaster and paint. This work will benefit historic sites across the country.
Thanks in part to a partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Save America’s Treasures, and HGTV, this eloquent link with America’s past is being preserved for generations to come.
Sites in the 2004-2005 Restore America: A Salute to Preservation campaign.
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