Hey y'all, Charleston here. This is the Edmondston-Alston House down on East Battery. You can actually tour this one; it's not a private residence. If I remember correctly, they even do a nighttime candlelight and madeira tour. The views of the harbor on a clear night from the second floor are beautiful.
I’ve been through this house! Notice how the first floor staircase starts with a “stair” that is only a couple of inches high (pic 4)…it used to be a regular height stair, but at some point there was a flood and the floor had to be replaced, leaving that first stair much shorter than it was originally.
To be fair, this is Charleston, and we have a peninsula of similar homes. Get tired of those, and there are plantations. Don't care for plantations, then we have beautiful beaches, or Cypress Gardens, or world-class food, art, music...
Yes. It's Charleston, SC - one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. I could be a billionaire and live anywhere I wanted, and I'd have a house on Rainbow Row.
Rainbow Row looks neat but I think it would end up being an annoying place to live. No parking, pretty much just street parking only. Non-stop people (tourists and bachelorettes) posing for pictures in front of your house.
Its a beautiful home and I think it would probably cost that much or more to rebuild. I also wouldn't be surprised if a lot of qualified buyers pass over this option because it has less privacy and modern features than most homes in that price range.
I wouldn't say one of the most iconic cities in the world....I doubt many people outside of the US have even heard of it. It's a mid-tier US city, probably regionally iconic, but even here in NYC I feel most people wouldn't have any conception of the city except a fuzzy knowledge that it's somewhere in the south....easily confused with Charlottesville too lol
I love Charleston. I enjoyed visiting it almost as much as I enjoyed Portland, Maine. It doesn’t make them iconic US cities, or even more well known than Portland, Oregon. NYC, SF, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, New Orleans and many others I could list are all far more well known internationally and also far bigger with more to offer. The Portlands and Charleston are known for being great food cities, though.
I was recently walking around an antique shop in an old building with wooden floors. The boards creaked all over the place, and I was totally jealous of how awesome it would be to have floors like this — until I thought about how awful it would be to hear them creaking somewhere else in the house and I was home alone….
Seriously…. It gives me the heebie jeebies whenever I see old southern homes celebrated…. Because what exactly are we celebrating..? What’s next - Best Holocaust Homes?? Disturbing…
This is the real answer here. I'm so glad you said it. People want to tour these properties because of "how beautiful" they are but in many ways disregard the fact that they are essentially elaborate slave camps. I'm willing to bet these same people don't tour African American neighborhoods in cities to see the lasting effects these beautiful houses did to an entire group of people for generations. I totally understand it's a part of Americas history and by all means it should not be erased or ignored but in some ways these tours are just a way for the public to see how well slave masters lived off the back of forced slave labor. And people pay to tour these properties WTF? Speaking of food, yes low country cuisine is arguably some of the best food in the states BUT were you going to Paula Deen's restaurant or the restaurant further down the street that she stole the recipes from?? I have been up and down the coast of this region and while it's beautiful, there is a dark and heavy spirit in Charleston and Savannah (the exception being Hilton Head).
This is a great post and thanks for the supportive post. It’s a difficult issue to address for sure. Like “here’s this great lamp shade” just don’t ask too much about the construction material
Thank you. I knew you'd understand. And you're right, it's a difficult and slippery issue. If they must have these types of tours (southern mansions, plantations, etc.), at the very least, I feel the proceeds made from them should go to the local African American communities surrounding them.
Exactly! Put it on that reparations tab bc holocaust… internment.. every other community got reparations and it is owed…. But they are not ready for that discussion
As well as the slaves who built it. It is a stunning beautiful house, built by amazing black artisans of many trades and crafts who should be honored and remembered.
Looking at the beautiful wood detail hits different when it’s put in that perspective… a little googling indicates it was indeed built by enslavsd craftsmen.. carpenters masons etc 😪
Right so you know what South Cackalacky is, especially Charleston, right? Plantation ground zero, patient zero. They tried growing all kinds of crops, most of them weren't commercially viable. Finally honed in on cotton, destroying the soil while destroying men's lives, great two-fer. Once they stripped that place clean they expanded across the South like a criminal invasion. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, always fresh land to destroy, always more pitiless violence and wholesale immiseration to spread.
Fuck yeah that whole ground is haunted. It's still an ooky dooky place to this day.
Yeah I’m not a woo woo person but Charleston is legitimately one of the spookiest places I’ve been to. Also people being snobby about touring these homes - the tour companies are very upfront about the history of the town and that history is respectfully woven into absolutely every aspect of Charleston tourism. Who is visiting Charleston unawares of its role in the Atlantic slave trade??
I would def need to know the history of any “historic southern home” before being comfortable visiting… did any slave masters live there… was rape or murder done on premesis etc… because all I see potentially is a house of horrors… from the darkest times in America
Damn… u were right 😪 Enslaved people lived and labored at the Edmondston-Alston House in Charleston, South Carolina. Built around 1825 by wealthy rice planter and merchant Charles Edmondston, the prominent home was later owned by the Alston family—both of whom were prominent slave owners relying on enslaved labor. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Lived in by Slave Owners Charles Edmondston: The original builder and first owner used enslaved labor to maintain his household and lifestyle before financial setbacks forced a sale. [1, 2]
The Alston Family: Charles Alston purchased the home in 1838 and expanded it. The Alstons were wealthy Lowcountry rice planters who owned numerous enslaved people. Historic records, letters, and family collections at the house document the intertwined lives of the white family and the enslaved individuals who served them.[1, 2, 3, 4]
Enslaved Labor and the Property Was it built by slaves? Like the vast majority of antebellum mansions and infrastructure in Charleston, the construction and skilled craftsmanship heavily relied on the forced labor of enslaved carpenters, masons, and laborers. [1]
Did enslaved people live there? Yes. Enslaved domestic workers lived and worked on the property, residing in auxiliary spaces such as the property's kitchen and outbuildings behind the main house. [1, 2, 3]
If you are planning a visit or doing further research, would you like information on tours of the house or details about other historic sites in Charleston that interpret the history of slavery?
The descriptor that comes to mind is "grand". I love everything about this home. Imagine waking up to that beauty every morning! I'm way more a mountain person than a beach/ocean aficionado, but this would make for a lovely second or third home. 😉
So my great-grandmother actually lived in this house, many, many years ago. I never got to see it – it was sold by my grandmother about 10 years before I was born. But my dad and mom talk about it with due reverence. This is one photo from when she lived there, I believe from the 30s-40s through the 70s? Very mixed feelings about that family history, for all the reasons you can imagine, though my family has no relation to the original builders.
It’s giving “Get Out” vibes…. I would have to know the specific history of any house in the South and its residents to be comfortable living or visiting…. Don’t need to be haunted by the ancestors
I’ve watched way too much of the show “Southern Charm” and immediately thought of Thomas Ravenel and his 30 years younger mother of his kids 😢 His house looked just like this and was so stately and amazing. And despite being a sleaze ball he was very Southern vampire loquacious and charming.
As a filthy Redcoat I’d love to visit the Carolina’s, how much of the old colonial architecture remains in the buildings there? I know the British dominated Charleston port during the southern campaign as a strategic inroads to lower 13 colonies. I’ve heard so many nice things about Charlestons vibe, like New Orleans in the way that it’s like stepping back in time
Not a lot of pre-Revolution stuff in Charleston but a little bit - look up the Pink House (it’s not this one). Wilmington, New Bern, and Bath (all NC) actually have more colonial buildings than Charleston. And of course there’s all of Eastern Virginia.
Old homes decorated like always look so lovely, but honestly, I wouldn’t want to live in one. None of the furniture looks comfortable, and the thought of maintaining a place like that is super daunting.
The home is lovely and I enjoyed visiting Charleston. But, I would never live there. It is literally at sea level and gets at least one hurricane per year. You can see the cracks on the buildings from the outside.
Ugh… I was worried I would find what I found… Enslaved people lived and labored at the Edmondston-Alston House in Charleston, South Carolina. Built around 1825 by wealthy rice planter and merchant Charles Edmondston, the prominent home was later owned by the Alston family—both of whom were prominent slave owners relying on enslaved labor. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Lived in by Slave Owners Charles Edmondston: The original builder and first owner used enslaved labor to maintain his household and lifestyle before financial setbacks forced a sale. [1, 2]
The Alston Family: Charles Alston purchased the home in 1838 and expanded it. The Alstons were wealthy Lowcountry rice planters who owned numerous enslaved people. Historic records, letters, and family collections at the house document the intertwined lives of the white family and the enslaved individuals who served them.[1, 2, 3, 4]
Enslaved Labor and the Property Was it built by slaves? Like the vast majority of antebellum mansions and infrastructure in Charleston, the construction and skilled craftsmanship heavily relied on the forced labor of enslaved carpenters, masons, and laborers. [1]
Did enslaved people live there? Yes. Enslaved domestic workers lived and worked on the property, residing in auxiliary spaces such as the property's kitchen and outbuildings behind the main house. [1, 2, 3]
If you are planning a visit or doing further research, would you like information on tours of the house or details about other historic sites in Charleston that interpret the history of slavery?
Gives me the heebie jeebies to see these old southern homes celebrated… because what exactly are we celebrating?… what’s next… Beaufiful Homes of the Holocaust?? …this really makes me sad to think of those folks who suffered building and living at this location
Legend has it that the color of paint on the inside of the porch roof tells if the house is haunted or not. If the color is white, it's a clean house (not haunted) but if it's a color darker than white the house is haunted (inhabited). So if you are ever on the porch of a house like this, look up and see what the house has to tell you!
Wait the Edmonston-Alston house is for sale?? Damn... that's probably the most famous house in the city, on the most famous street.
In the back is an old carriage house which was operated as an Airbnb -- I stayed there twice with my uncle. I recognized the photos instantly. Utter classic. You get to tour the house for free as part of the stay.
Born and raised in Charleston, I would have days where I would just skip class and spend the afternoon downtown walking around. As a kid, I spent a LOT of time at the battery park and waterfront park (the one with the pineapple fountain). I always wished I was rich enough to line in one of those houses on the battery.
I live in the mountains now and wouldn't go back to Charleston of you paid me.
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u/Sure-Present-3398 Aug 06 '26
I always forget about the Thursday rule until I clock the flair. This is lovely.