Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Charleston, South Carolina
Started as a rice plantation in the 18th century, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens today is one of the finest plantation houses in Charleston and includes the nation’s oldest Romantic-style garden.
Still owned by descendants of the Drayton family which settled in Charleston in 1776, the site offers a variety of tours. Guides discuss family life and heirlooms, including antiques collected by the family over many generations. A narrated boat tour takes guests into the rice field, and a self-guided walking tour winds through the Audubon Swamp. To see the surrounding natural landscape and wildlife, guests enjoy the Nature Train Tour and might glimpse alligators and water birds. The Cabin Project focuses on slave houses on the property and local Gullah culture.
Outside the home, the estate features a number of gardens, some that are 325 years old. Sharon Newton, group sales manager at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, described the gardens as very romantic.
“The azalea gardens are very extensive and bloom all year long, and the camellias bloom in winter,” she said. “There’s always something to look at; sometimes we have to contend with bad weather, but on pretty days, the camellias are breathtaking.”
Groups can also take bird walks at the plantation or visit the zoo and nature center, the horticultural maze and the wildlife-viewing platform.
