Aiken-Rhett House Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Jan 6, 2023 | Historical Building, USA: South Carolina

The Aiken-Rhett House Museum, c. 1820, is a unique survivor. The house descended in the Aiken-Rhett family for 142 years until it was sold to The Charleston Museum and opened to the public in 1975.

Aiken-Rhett House Museum: 48 Elizabeth St, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Built in 1820 by merchant John Robinson, the Aiken-Rhett House is nationally significant as one of the best-preserved townhouse complexes in the nation. Vastly expanded by Governor and Mrs. William Aiken, Jr. in the 1830s and again in the 1850s, the house and its outbuildings include a kitchen, the original slave quarters, carriage block and back lot. The house and its surviving furnishings offer a compelling portrait of urban life in antebellum Charleston, as well as a Southern politician, slaveholder and industrialist.

Servant’s Hall

The backyard of the house.  The two white buildings were for the enslaved people.

The back of the house

Into one of the buildings through the side door, marked Kitchen

The kitchen.  The meals are prepared here for the master and themselves.

The next room, the room does not have any windows.

Going upstairs

The hallway.  This is where the enslaved people lived and slept.

The room at the end of the hallway.  This is the only room that has windows.

Walking back to the other end

A small room without light

The room at the other end of the hallway

Walking back and going downstairs

Out of the building

Go back into the room opposite side of the kitchen on the first floor

Displaying things found on  this house site

The second building houses the carriers and the living quarter upstairs.

Inside the stable

The front porch of the main house where the master resided.

The first-floor veranda.

A view from the veranda

Dining Room

The portrait of Mr. Aiken.

Library Room

The backyard from the library room

Go upstairs

A bedroom

The stairs to the third floor, but it is closed.

The second-floor veranda

A view from the second-floor

Another bedroom

Washroom?

Play Room

The art gallery

A portrait of the wife of Mr. Aiken.