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Aiken-Rhett House


TripAdvisor Traveler Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
TripAdvisor Popularity Index: #5 of 134 attractions in Charleston
Traveler Description: A historic house museum that is highly recommended.
Familiar with Aiken-Rhett House? Write your own description and share what you know with other travelers.
Attraction type: Historic home
Address: 48 Elizabeth St Charleston, SC 29401
Tel: 843-723-1159

Traveler Reviews

[ Date ] [ Rating ]
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5 of 5 stars
halfhisorange 5 contributions
Fredericksburg
Apr 17, 2009

A local suggested this "urban plantation" to us while we were touring Boone Plantation. The tour is self-guided via mp3 player and allows the option to pause and look around each room at your leisure. The most interesting thing about this house is that it has been preserved but not restored, so you are seeing the house and artifacts just... more

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5 of 5 stars
Colewade 71 contributions
Asheville, North Carolina
Apr 4, 2009
2/2 found this review helpful

The Aiken Rhett House is not simply a showroom for museum quality pieces. Home to a long line of Aiken descendents, including Governor William Aiken, 200 years of history unfolds in multiple layers at every bend of the circuitous 45 minute tour. This is just the kind of house and history that would have inspired Tennessee Williams. Though the magnificent... more

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5 of 5 stars
crecords 2 contributions
Delaware
Feb 7, 2009
2/2 found this review helpful

Worth the extra walk, it was wonderful that the property is preserved as is was. Walking through the slave quarters was very interesting. Truly a chance to experience history close up. more

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5 of 5 stars
johnh127 3 contributions
Fredericksburg, VA
Jan 25, 2009
1/1 found this review helpful

We are both in the museum business, and this site was one of the best we have seen. The uncontrolled environment causes some wincing from a curatorial standpoint, but the interpretaton of spaces within this urban plantaion is excellent. Most compelling are the kitchen and stable places out back--which the foundation interprets honestly and with a sense of historical justice.... more

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5 of 5 stars
bmason1003 25 contributions
Nashville
Jan 1, 2009
1/1 found this review helpful

If you are interested in what historic homes actually look like when they have been preserved and the history behind them, tour this home. I love the audio tour so you can easily hear and go at your own pace. The slave house and stables are especially interesting in this home because they have been so well preserved and you... more

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5 of 5 stars
mattie0817 5 contributions
Florence, Alabama
Oct 27, 2008
2/2 found this review helpful

This house is a hidden jewel. I have been to Charleston 4-5 times. We just happen to stumble on this house. I personally enjoyed the MP3, because there isn't anything that is forgotten. They had employees stationed around the house, to answer any questions that you have. I was amazed at the amount of original furniture that was still in... more

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5 of 5 stars
heather1074 3 contributions
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Oct 6, 2007
3/3 found this review helpful

I lOVE the house you can see through all the faded wallpaper and paint that the house was once a very beautiful place. IT hasbeen perversed and not restored. You use an MP3 PLAYER To lead you through the house and grounds. I like that better than A guide that way you can stay longer IN A room tO look... more

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3 of 5 stars
SaminDC 117 contributions
DC
Apr 23, 2007
2/2 found this review helpful

They say this is the best preserved urban plantation in America because several of the original out buildings remain. It is a self-guided tour on an MP3, and they make a big deal about not skipping, but parts of the tour are longer than they need to be. It is not as lavishly decorated as some other restored Charleston homes. more

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5 of 5 stars
oxide 9 contributions
New York, NY
Apr 13, 2007
6/6 found this review helpful

I love that this house is largely unrestored. After spending days looking at houses that had been restored to within an inch of their life, this one was so refreshing. And to have the slave quarters, not to mention the outhouses, out back in their original state was fascinating. You could just feel the ghosts of the past as you... more

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2 of 5 stars
Tsi2quick 9 contributions
North Carolina
Mar 28, 2007
4/4 found this review helpful

The house is preserved which is perfectly fine as it was an interesting look into history. The part I didnt care for was the usage of an MP3 player during the tour. It's a novel idea but somehow the co-mingling of history and today's technology doesn't seem right. We were in a group of three and it was hard for... more

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Aiken-Rhett House Address

48 Elizabeth St, Charleston, SC 29401
Tel: 843-723-1159