ashtabula plantation

If you like to tour historic sites, you will love the Ashtabula Plantation located in Pendleton, SC. The home is filled with antiques, many of which come from original owners, and the home has been minimally restored. Like taking a step back in time with a very knowledgeable guide. The Pendleton Historical Foundation offers school tours at this site for a fee, and this home and ground are available to rent for weddings and special events.

We have a fantastic tour at Ashtabula from a very knowledgeable, informative, and engaging docent. The history of the property and the furnishings were wonderful to hear about and see.

Ashtabula Plantation in Pendleton, SC, is well worth the visit. In a nutshell: a piedmont plantation home from the early 19th century, minimally altered in the 20th c. with an unusual amount of antebellum antiques belonging to the families who resided there. If you are lucky to get a tour guided by Phyllis, you are in for an insightful visit. Phyllis is deeply knowledgeable about the house, its owners and the time period. She peppers her tours with details about daily life (even about the things no one dares to ask, e.g. personal hygiene), knows almost everything about each item on display and invites questions in each room, thus keeping the group engaged. The slaves serving in the house feature in the tour account but the overall life of slaves on this plantation does not appear well documented, beyond numbers and tasks. None of the former slave quarters have survived on the plantation grounds since they were customarily made of wood. An adjacent building -- a brick cottage that was once a tavern and later served as business office for the planter and quarters for the house slaves -- is currently (4/13) under renovation and not accessible. The grounds are not noteworthy, except for an old oak. A tour takes about 1.5 hours. You can join any time during opening hours. The tour guide moves from room to room, you join the group wherever they might be and continue until you have seen all rooms, then you rotate off. No indoor photography. The home is not wheelchair accessible. I do not find the tour suitable for children under 8, and be it only on account of length. There is a gift shop with books, some postcards and various items. A visit is $6 for adults, $2 for kids. They frequently offer special events, from theme tours (19th century medicine, Victorian fashion) to re-enactments and educational events.

I took a group of kids from a local school here on a field trip. The staff had different stations set up where the students learned about life during that time period.

We made it a date night , we dont get many of those. So hot chocolate, beautiful historic town ,and home. and dinner later.

The Christmas tours are the BEST! They take a page from previous owners diaries and do a reenactment in early December each year.

We had a great tour from a very well informed guide. The building is beautiful and is furnished entirely with the original furniture and homewares. Really a fascinating look at pre-civil-war Upstate history!

Well worth the 2 hours we spent with a most knowledgeable docent. We had a most interesting tour of all the rooms and the volunteer gave us extensive history and background of the previous owners. The home is beautiful as are the furnishings, and the "gig windows" are really interesting! For a cost of $6 each this is a super way to spend an afternoon!

We love going to Ashtabula every Christmas. The program they put on over several weeks is wonderfully put together and the volunteers do a great job re-enacting historic characters from Ashtabula's and South Carolina's past. Each year the script is based on different events or time periods. Go in the evening to fully appreciate the home with luminaires lining the drive. Dress warm, but they do have fires outside to keep you toasty and hot chocolate. The house and tours are great any time of the year and the Foundation puts on numerous events year round. It's amazing how dedicated the docents are - all are volunteers and very informative. (Don't hesitate to go back even if you've been there before - each tour/docent has a slightly different emphasis from the furniture to the politics of the era.)Do keep in mind that the house is not air conditioned, so it can be very hot/humid in the summer (which helps us appreciate the living conditions of the 1800's!)

I loved going to Ashtabula for the beautiful Christmas event, particularly in 2010. It was a great script. The home is beautiful, and the people are friendly. I love the caretaker's cottage on site. I also love the school room.