Aiken-Rhett House

This preserved urban estate in Charleston offers an unusually complete picture of antebellum city life because it survives largely unrestored, its faded surfaces left as time left them. Built in 1820 and enlarged by Governor William Aiken Jr., the mansion keeps original wallpaper, paint, and furnishings, while the intact yard buildings include a kitchen, stable, and quarters where enslaved workers lived. This rare survival of both grand rooms and working spaces lets visitors grasp the full social world of a wealthy household on one site.