Museum Homes to Check Out in Charleston

We asked Charleston tour guide Ruth Miller to pick five Charleston Museum Homes you should see.

First up, the Aiken-Rhett House at 48 Elizabeth St. Built in 1820, it was sold to the Charleston Museum in 1975 after spending 142 years in the hands of descendants of the Aiken family. Jefferson Davis visited the house during the Civil War. 

The Calhoun Mansion is another can't miss museum home. At more than 24,000 square feet, the mansion at 16 Meeting St. is the largest home on the peninsula. The house boasts 35 rooms including a grand ballroom, a Japanese water garden, 35 fireplaces, a 75-foot-high domed stairhall ceiling, a private elevator and more.

An iconic home on the Battery is the Edmonston-Alston House. Built in 1825, the house offers an amazing view of Charleston Harbor, one that Confederate General P. T. Beauregard enjoyed during the bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861. The house at 21 E. Battery St. also provided refuge to Gen. Robert E. Lee in December of 1861.

Step back even further into the Holy City's history at the Heyward-Washington House at 87 Church St. Built in 1772 by rice planter Daniel Heyward as a townhouse for his son Thomas Heyward, Jr., who signed the Declaration of Independence, the double brick home also played host Pres. George Washington when he spent a week in Charleston in 1791.

Finally don't miss the Nathaniel Russell House at 51 Meeting St. A National Historic Landmark sin 1955, the Nathaniel Russell House is recognized as one of America's most important neoclassical dwellings. 

Ruth Miller is a local historian and has been a licensed Charleston tour guide since 1979. Visit www.lowcountryinc.com to find out more, or schedule a tour.