Home > Video Channel > Millford Plantation Tour

Millford Plantation Tour

Bob takes us on a field trip to Millford Plantation, a spectacular Greek Revival governor's mansion with echoes of the Civil War still ringing through its halls.
Get Adobe Flash Player to see this content.

Chapters from this episode

Clip Transcript For:

Millford Plantation Tour

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" -But tell us a little bit about Milford, who built it?"

" -Milford was designed in the 1830s by a young couple, the Manning's of South Carolina. Prominent family in politics and wealth and power."

" -And courageous to build something this extraordinary"

" -Interestingly, they were in their 20s when they designed the house."

" -Quite a passion for style"

" -Yeah, and then who owned it next?"

" -Well, the house stayed in the Manning family till the early part of this century, the Clarks from Detroit bought the house as a winter retreat"

" -And they held it until about 1982"

" -And then my uncle, Richard Jenrette bought the house"

" -And your uncle's very well known in business circles, but he also collects and restores houses and furniture"

" -That's right, this is his latest one."

" -What a wonderful hobby to have"

" -Yeah it is."

" -Well I can't wait to see the inside but the outside, it is a Greek revival temple but it's very unusual, isn't it?"

" -Yes, it's very elaborate with the ornamentation, the columns and the style of the house"

" -And those incredible capitals on the columns, yeah, shall we go inside?"

" -Well, let's do it."

" -Was the house damaged during the civil war?"

" -Almost, on the last day of the war, the house was evidently burned down and fortunately a horseman came galloping up the hill said that war pays forgive and signed an affidavit don't burn it down, so it was saved by that."

" -Yeah, thank you"

" -There was a incident where horsemen rode through this grand hallway on their horses, 4 abreast of one another, rode back and forth of the hall. The house then belonged to the Governor of the State and I think it was an insult on him."

" -An insult, yes indeed, 4 horses of course would fit in this hall, it must be 50 feet long and 15 feet wide?"

" -I think that's about accurate."

" -And of course the furnishings and the detail, everything is just perfect in here. What room is this?"

" -This is a double parlor that was designed for entertaining and this is a room where dances could be held or just sitting and talking or reading."

" -Look at these windows."

" -These are incredible, this is a wonderful architectural feature. All the house has been restored, these windows recede up into the ceiling"

" -So that you can"

" -And you can actually walk out"

" -Yeah."

" -The feeling that you're outside during the springtime."

" -Amazing. I understand that your uncle collects houses and collects antique furniture but also likes to kind of put the puzzles back together or finding original furnishing?"

" -Yes. Much of the furniture in this house belonged to Governor and Mrs. Manning, the builders of the house. He likes to get pieces that were actually in the house and many of these never left the house."

" -Beautiful mahogany, empire type and style furniture, what about the chandelier, well there's 2 of them"

" -Yeah"

" -Are they original? _The chandeliers actually belong to another house that my uncle owns, Edgewater house in the Hudson River and he brought those to South Carolina"

" -Thinking that they were more appropriate for the rooms."

" -They're perfect in here."

" -Beautiful."

" -What's on the other side of the hall?"

" -We have a dining room and the library are on this side of the hallway."

" -Oh, this is truly magnificent, isn't it?"

" -It's a wonderful dining room. The table was originally owned by the owners of the house and had escaped to the Columbia Governors mansion for many years and after my uncle purchased the house, we had it return to the house."

" -So the table and chairs"

" -are part of the original furnishings."

" -Exactly."

" -I love the shape of the dining room though, it starts off as a rectangle and it kind of ends on a curve at this end and the doors are also curved and the plaster I guess has been painted to look like stone, marble."

" -Yes, it makes it look like the Grecian temple."

" -Well, yeah, that's the whole feeling of the house, isn't it."

" -This is truly a spiral staircase, but I have never seen anything so magnificent."

" -Well, it's so important to the house, is actually in its own room, it's a rotunda with a large circular floor, roughly 15 feet across and it sends up the stairway to a dome at the top 40 feet high."

" -And all the detailing is, you know, it's pure Greek revival and it looks like it was just crafted yesterday."

" -Just wonderful details throughout."

" -Look at the decorations on the floor, is that original?"

" -The floor is actually a new design to embrace the Grecian ideals of the house."

" -Beautifully done, yeah, so the bedrooms are off of this other hall?"

" -That's right."

" -Well you've done a great job of keeping this Greek theme going through. The carpets, the furniture, everywhere you look."

" -Yes, it's the same thing that's carried out throughout the house and this is one of the bedrooms with a wonderful [unk] for hanging clothes, houses of this era didn't have built-in closets like we're used to now."

" -That's certainly of the period, but the bed, I'm not sure, it's not Not a Greek revival bed, is it?"

" -No, it's a lovely mahogany bed though and"

" -It's so huge, you need steps to get into it, I love that, yeah. What about the bedroom across the hall?"

" -It's a little more comfortable, a little more livable with a mix of more traditional comfortable furniture as well as a lovely bed."

" -It's a great color scheme, the yellow, the gold with the blue as you see it in the carpet downstairs"

" -It really does, it pulls you out to the sky outside."

" -And that bathroom through there"

" -Well when was the house first renovated, I'd say early in the 1900s"

" -That's right, the Clark family in the early part of the 20th century did"

" -1920's bathroom with all that marble."

" -Marble"

" -And then of course all the beautiful antiques everywhere, I'd say your uncle has done a fabulous job of restoring this house."

 [-]


More Videos »Related Videos

Repairing Furniture
Repairing Furniture

Keep these things in mind when you need to repair old furniture. First, make sure you've removed all the old glue from the joint. Then check the joint to be sure there are no gaps you need to fill before gluing. Apply your glue, then clasp the joint. Be careful not to bruise the wood; use wooden pads if you need to. Wipe off all the excess glue and allow plenty of drying time.

Tour of Cape May in New Jersey
Tour of Cape May in New Jersey

Bob meets up with Barbara Mytell from the Cape May chamber of Commerce to tour one of the oldest beach resort towns in New Jersey. They take a horse drawn carriage through town and talk about the Victorian architecture of the homes and hotels. Nancy Thorensen gives bob a tour of Beaver cottage. The home has many of its Victorian features of leaded stained glass and ornamental walls. Bob point out the beautifully carved staircase. The master bedroom is done in Eastlake style furniture.

Color and Fabric Scheme for the Home
Color and Fabric Scheme for the Home

Bob meets with Susanne Csongor and Christine Lane of CLC Interiors for a look at the color and fabric schemes as they're starting to come together. Bob reviews the time line for ordering the various new pieces and discusses the layout of the furniture. Christine explains the fabric choices and the history of their construction.

How to Buy Furniture
How to Buy Furniture

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. You re-painted the living room and now you can t stand your old furniture. Well, you re in luck. Lots of new imports means there s never been a better time to buy furniture. Before you shop til you drop, though, do some online research. Find out what pieces you like and locate showrooms where you can try them out in person. Bring paint chips and fabric samples with you. If you re going to be living with this piece for years, you shouldn t just go by the picture: Quality of construction and comfort are something you need to see for yourself. If you have kids, pets or you like entertaining, be sure to find out how easy or how difficult it s going to be to clean the piece you re considering. And think of all the places in your home where it could come in handy. Years down the line when you re furnishing a teenagers basement hangout or an in-law apartment, you ll be glad you chose something versatile and durable. Measure your room to be sure that big sectional couch will fit where you want it without looking too big or too small for the room and to make sure it ll fit through the door! There are some great room planning tools available online to make buying furniture easy. You can map out your room, enter your measurements and try out the different pieces and configurations until you know what works in your space before you buy. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Related Products & Services Showrooms

Columns, Pillars, Pilasters & Balustrades
Columns, Pillars, Pilasters & Balustrades

Chadsworth offers a complete line of columns, pillars, pilasters, and posts for both interior and exterior use, with plain or fluted shafts in Wood-all species of lumber (stain- and paint-grade), their award-winning PolyStone', Composite, Fiberglass (molded and spun-cast), and PVC. All sizes and

Lighting & Accessories - Great Service & Free Shipping
Lighting & Accessories - Great Service & Free Shipping

…Our customer surveys and customer testimonials attest to our success. Whether you need lighting for a specific room, a chandelier, a table lamp or an accessory, we have the products that you need at the prices you want. Unlike most companies, we don…

More Content »More Content

Rebuilding a Wall with Three-Coat Plaster
Rebuilding a Wall with Three-Coat Plaster

A traditional three-coat plaster job was used in the Manhattan Brownstone…
…finish or white coat that blends the new plaster wall into the profile of the cornice…
…where new support is needed for the plaster application. It has many "keys…

Blue Board and Veneer Plaster
Blue Board and Veneer Plaster

…characteristic hue comes from a special plaster-friendly paper applied over its gypsum…
…commonly known as drywall pushed traditional plaster out of the new-home market. Everyone…
…to a skim coat of specially formulated plaster. When finishing blue board, instead…

World's Largest LED Chandelier
World's Largest LED Chandelier

…world's largest LED free-hanging chandelier was illuminated on April 2, 2008 by…
…thing was the lighting power of the chandelier was equivalent to 720 100-watt incandescent…
…savings of 98.5 percent. Yowza! The chandelier is 35 feet in diameter, 17 feet tall…

The Bic Pen Chandelier
The Bic Pen Chandelier

…Now what can I make with that?" In that same spirit, design house enPieza has introduced the Volivik Lamp, a handmade chandelier constructed of Bic ballpoint pens. Made up of 347 pens, it stands over 31 inches tall and 20 inches wide. The Volivik Lamp…

Browse Topics

Click on a letter to browse content by topic alphabetically.



About  | FAQ  | Contact  | Sitemap  | Privacy Policy  | Terms of Use  | Help

© BobVila.com 2009