Pictures Of Plantation Where Tcs Does Work

Reba

Reba

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Here are some pictures of where TCS has been doing side work for several years. It's a private family plantation (non-working). It includes four houses, garages, barns, and stables. It's located in Charleston, SC, on the Ashley River.

It was bought from the original owners before WWII (I'm not sure exactly when). The family split the property between two siblings, who each built large homes. Then, one of the siblings built the big white house (about 6,000 sq. ft. on three floors).

When the parents died, the property was split between the daughter and the son. The daughter got the big house, and the son built a new house.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of March, so the trees aren't in bloom yet but the azaleas were starting to bloom.

The white house is the "plantation" house that was built by the family in 1941 replacing the old homestead. Like most waterfront plantation houses, the "front" door faces the river for boat visitors, and the "back" door is where most people drive up to, so it seems backwards.

The walkway in front of the house is inset with antique millstones of various styles.

The bridge used to be bright white, but when a film crew made it look old with paint, and the homeowner decided to keep it that way after filming was done.

Sadly, the plantation has seen better days. The upkeep is extremely expensive. TCS has put up horse fencing, repaired stables, did repair carpentry in the main house, mowed the acreage with a tractor and other odd jobs. His next project there is building a gate for the boat dock.

The other houses on the property are a caretaker's cottage, a large "modern" house for the son's family, and a large ramshackle large house the uncle used to live in.

The white house includes a huge dining room with murals, wide pine flooring, tall ceilings, real wood paneling, a curved staircase, and lots of large windows.

It's a very peaceful area with lots of wildlife.

While TCS worked on the house I sat in the dining room and read a book. After, we took a long exploring walk around the property.front house.jpgback house.jpg
 

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Oh Reba I am so jealous! It so lovely there , I love all of it . Have you walked on the bridge yet , the river is breathtaking . :)
 
I always wanted a stream on my property so I could have a little bridge. Beautiful place!
 
jonnyghost said:
I always wanted a stream on my property so I could have a little bridge. Beautiful place!
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I knew some people that live in OK and the wife made a little fish pond in their backyard and put in a water fountain b/c she wanted to hear running water
while in the yard . If you have enough land you could made a pond and have a little bridge over it.
 
That's a beautiful house. I hope TCS is enjoying his time working on the property. Us having lived on our new land only a year we have lots of projects in mind. We got so much accomplished last year we are off to a good start. I'll have to post pics eventually. Does he enjoy it?
 
AlleyCat said:
That's a beautiful house. I hope TCS is enjoying his time working on the property. Us having lived on our new land only a year we have lots of projects in mind. We got so much accomplished last year we are off to a good start. I'll have to post pics eventually. Does he enjoy it?
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It's hard, tiring, hot work but he gets satisfaction of doing a good job. He also likes how the homeowners just tell him what they need done, and he does it. He tells them what materials are required, and they just let do whatever to get the job done. A lot of times that includes even designing the projects. The family is smart and well-to-do, professionals in their fields but are pretty clueless about "hands-on" work so they trust TCS to figure it out. TCS enjoys how they don't hover over him when he's working. When it's done, he shows them, and they're happy.

The only negative is that TCS is getting older and just can't sustain doing a lot of that work anymore. He would like to find someone young and strong with a good work ethic that he could train to take over but that's not so easy to do.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
How many acres of land is there on the plantation ?
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I'll have to ask TCS when he gets home from work. The land is divided into two large sections by a two-lane road. The residences are on one side, facing the river. The other side is undeveloped woods. They let us have any fallen trees from there for firewood, if we want.
 
Reba said:
It's hard, tiring, hot work but he gets satisfaction of doing a good job. He also likes how the homeowners just tell him what they need done, and he does it. He tells them what materials are required, and they just let do whatever to get the job done. A lot of times that includes even designing the projects. The family is smart and well-to-do, professionals in their fields but are pretty clueless about "hands-on" work so they trust TCS to figure it out. TCS enjoys how they don't hover over him when he's working. When it's done, he shows them, and they're happy.

The only negative is that TCS is getting older and just can't sustain doing a lot of that work anymore. He would like to find someone young and strong with a good work ethic that he could train to take over but that's not so easy to do.
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I totally understand. It's nice they let him just figure it out and not micro-manage him. I kind of think that's kind of what we're doing - we're doing what we think is best for this land so that it's "done" before we feel like we no longer want to manage it anymore other than usual upkeep.
 
One disadvantage we have is that a portion of our land is marshland which is MN DNR-regulated, so we are limited in what we can do. We created a pathway to the biggest pond last year, but there's a tiny stretch, probably about 6 feet wide by about 10 feet long, that is impassable when the snow melts, so we have to walk a wide ways around it, so we're trying to figure out how to "fix" that. DNR regulations in this state stipulate that you cannot build a permanent structure on marshlands, so we don't currently have an option to build a bridge to cover that stretch, but we're going to ask anyway if we can.
 
Reba said:
I'll have to ask TCS when he gets home from work. The land is divided into two large sections by a two-lane road. The residences are on one side, facing the river. The other side is undeveloped woods. They let us have any fallen trees from there for firewood, if we want.
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That is nice you can use the fallen trees for firewood , I know that can be expensive buying it . I had to buy when I lived in Berkeley and had a woodstove in my house .
 
whatdidyousay! said:
How many acres of land is there on the plantation ?
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OK, update:

Where the homes are is 50 acres split between the two siblings. Across the road, other relatives own 600 acres, primarily used for hunting. Some of that area is being used to haul out sand for construction projects elsewhere, and then they make lakes in the holes.
 
Reba said:
OK, update:

Where the homes are is 50 acres split between the two siblings. Across the road, other relatives own 600 acres, primarily used for hunting. Some of that area is being used to haul out sand for construction projects elsewhere, and then they make lakes in the holes.
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WOW ! 650 acres is a lot of land . So there are a lot manmade lakes , I wonder if that affect the weather . :ty: for the update ! I sure would love to be able to see
this myself . I can see why you like living in SC.
 
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