1686 SOUTH CAROLINA PLANTATION HAS AN INTERESTING HISTORY

Dating back to 1686, Medway, a 6700 acre plantation in Goose Creek, South Carolina with a 6,200 sq ft main house recently sold for $11MM.   It is reported to be the oldest masonry house in South Carolina, now a pink-gabled plantation house surrounded by moss-hung oaks, pine forests and swamps. 

There was a fire and it was rebuilt in 1705.  The South Carolina Department of Archives says that the house assumed a Holland-like appearance, and mentions that a small company of Hollanders moved to the area.  The pictures below are from their archives.

In 1929 it was purchased by Gertrude and Sidney Legendre for $100,000.  Gertrude was a socialite who became a US spy during WW2 and was a German POW for 6 months. They restored the house, adding  bathrooms and electricity.  Gertie hosted many celebrities including Bing Crosby and held lavish New Years Eve parties.  One night she made her entrance on the back of an elephant.  At one time she summered on the French Riviera with the Fitzgeralds.  A succession of owners made additions and changes.  Originally the property was 12,000 acres.  According to a development consultant in the area, properties on the scale of Medway are “an extreme rarity.”  Gertie had sold some acreage to endow a non-profit foundation which would own Medway.

The property was listed in the National Register of Historic Houses in 1970.
Early on it was a cotton plantation and an old race track can still be traced where thoroughbred  horses were raised.  The property contains a cemetery and there are ghost stories connected to the property.  The state's first governor is buried on the plantation.  Local lore suggests the reason the roofline was designed with stair-step gables was to allow evil spirits to be able to walk away from the house easily and leave it in peace.

  

A formal garden was laid out in the early 1900’s.  There are two avenues of oak trees.
Audubon declared the plantation an important bird area.  It is protected by several strict conservation easements which limit use beyond a private plantation. The easement protects the property in perpetuity.  Many previous and following owners added to the home and Mrs. Legrendre left the property to a foundation run by her daughter.  In 2004, it came on the market for $25MM.  It returned to the market in 2009, and most recently asked $15 million. There are four guesthouses, three staff houses, a lakefront lodge and a stable. Another building houses an indoor swimming pool, and there is also an outdoor pool. 

The book above is available from amazon.com.

VIA SERENA - A BEAUTIFUL MARION SYMS WYETH 1926 HISTORIC VILLA

Beautiful Old World exquisitely proportioned details mix with modern conveniences in the ivy-covered Marion Syms Wyeth 1926 grand Italian Palladian-style historic villa on about 2.79 acres in Palm Beach with 268’  of oceanfront and a private tunnel from the house to the beach.  Details included are cornices, moldings arches, pecky cypress and 12’ ceilings.  Interior spaces are well proportioned.

Landmarked in 1959, the Landmarks Preservation commission noted that the simple, balanced design helped mark the beginning of the toning down the architectural excesses seen on much of the Island in the 1920’s. The hipped-roof structure, as the report described it, is symmetrical, has projecting facades with pediments and cast-stone decorative details.  There is an interior courtyard.

 There are 7 bedrooms, six bathrooms, three powder rooms.  Some bedrooms open onto sleeping porches. 

The dramatic entry foyer is covered in imported marble.

 The palatial living room has a hand-painted coffered ceiling and marble columns.

 The deep-red library boasts gold-applied molding details.

The formal dining room has a tray ceiling, a trumeau over the mantle and the fireplace is connected to the molding.  The walls are finished in Venetian plaster that has “mellowed with age.”  Throughout the house are many wood-burning fireplaces.

Originally a family room combined with original garage is now a combination media and family room that opens to the inner courtyard, beautifully landscaped and a perfect party setting.  

 A covered lanai connects the main house to a 2-story “tennis house” with a 2^nd floor loft-like bedroom overlooking the courts.

The pool is 60’ long next to an expansive lawn with views of the pretty back exterior of the Villa.  There is an oceanfront cabana, five car garage and full house generator.  The foyer floor is Cuban marble and there are original restored floors.  The house has a grand staircase and jewel-like library.  Ceilings are interesting, some coffered, some painted.  

There are two cabanas on the ocean, one Italiate, the other Moroccan. 

The house is located on a prominent corner where South County Road meets South Ocean Boulevard.  The house was originally built for a New York City banker.  Another former owner was Jean Flagler Matthews, who founded the Henry M. Flagler Museum in 1959 as a tribute to her grandfather, thereby preserving the lavish 1902 Museum for future generations.

Current owners renovated the house and made additions and improvements – now with 270’ of oceanfront and 17,000+ square feet inside and out.  It now measures about 3 acres and includes a second smaller guest house with 6131 sq ft inside and out, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and powder room, pool and staff quarters.

List price is $34,000,000.

Call Marilyn at 561-302-3388 for more details.

Addison Mizner 1925 BOCA HOUSE SEEKING HISTORIC PRESERVATION DESIGNATION

About a dozen bungalow-style homes designed by Addison Mizner and built in 1925 and 1926 remain in the neighborhood, on Northwest Seventh and Eighth streets west of Boca Raton Boulevard.  Designation has been applied for and is in process. Decision will come in May.