LowCountryPlantations

Timeline: 1696 - Earliest known date of existence. Daniel Huger received 690 acres through grants from the Lords Proprietors (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1696 - House built ; 1711 - Daniel Huger died and passed his property to his son, Daniel Huger, Jr. (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1713 - Daniel Huger, Jr. purchased additional acreage from Michael Mahon. Rice Hope now totalled 3,415 acres (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1754 - Daniel Huger, Jr. died and passed the property to his son, Daniel Huger, III (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1795 - Formal gardens established; ? - At some point Rice Hope ended up in the ownership of John Harleston. He willed it to his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Dr. William Read. Dr. Read had Rice Hope cleared and banked for tidal rice cultivation (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1840 - House destroyed by fire. A second house was built in its place. A pen-and-ink watercolor of the first house was done by painter Charles Fraser. It can be seen at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1845 - Dr. Read died and left the property to his son, J. Harleston Read, and his sister, Elizabeth Read Parker. By 1846 J. Harleston Read had complete control of the property. Rice Hope now consisted of 1,709 acres of timber and 371 acres of rice fields (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). ? - J. Harleston Read died and his son, Benjamin Read, inherited the property. Benjamin Read fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1875 - Elizabeth Magwood purchased Rice Hope from Benjamin Read (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1895 - Alwyn J. Ball purchased the plantation (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1919 - Ball sold the timber rights to the Coming Tee Corporation (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1920s - US Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen bought the plantation and proceeded to remodel the 1840 house. There is no record of when the Senator sold the property. 1930s - The formal gardens were restored and enhanced by Loutrel Briggs, a noted landscape architect. 1949-1953 - John Page Simpson, Jr. purchased the plantation from West Virginia Pulp and Paper. During his ownership he was the caretaker of Strawberry Chapel. 1968-1971 - The house at Rice Hope was used as a school for unruly boys (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1971-1983 - Rice Hope was used as an art school (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1983 - Gene and Sue Lanier bought Rice Hope and restored the house (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1992 - Doris Kasprak purchased Rice Hope and turned it into a bed and breakfast (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour). 1996 - Lou Edens purchased the plantation and continues to run a bed and breakfast (SCHS, 2005 Fall Tour).

Currently: Plantation house operated as a bed and breakfast inn (2006)

Number of acres: 690 in 1711; 3,415 in 1713; 2,080 in 1845

Owners: Alwyn J. Ball (1895-1920s), Lou Edens (1996-2006), Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen (1920), John Harleston, Daniel Huger (1696-1711), Daniel Huger, Jr. (1711-1754), Daniel Huger, III (1754-?), Doris Kasprak (1992-1996), Gene and Sue Lanier (1983-1992), Elizabeth Magwood (1875-1895), Benjamin Read (?-1875), J. Harleston Read (1845-?), Dr. William Read (?-1845), John Page Simpson, Jr. (1949-1953)

Additional Information

References

1.	30-15 Plantation File, South Carolina Historical Society

2.	Irving, John R. A Day on the Cooper River. Enlarged and edited by Louise Cheves Stoney, 1932; reprint edition, with notes by Samuel Gailliard Stoney. Columbia: R. L. Bryan Company, 1969. Irving's book written in 1842.

3.	Cross, J. Russell. Historic Ramblin's Through Berkeley. 1985.

Website: ricehope.com/

Phone: 800-569-4038