" When you look at the Rhett house which it's called, it was built by Governor Aiken------"

" Yes."

" in 1817, you see a museum house that's owned by the Charleston museum but It's not done up like a typical museum house."

" Yes."

" This piazza really gives you a good feel for what the house is all about. It's a huge house."

" Yes. I mean it really was when it was built 1817. One of the finest houses in the city. And the museum has been very careful to leave the patina. It really has a European feel."

" The dust is still there."

" Yes. But all of this original lime washes that were painted to look like stone and then it was scoured to replicate the joints of the stone blocks."

" How long has it been a public museum? When was it last used as a private house?"

" Mrs. Rhett moved out in the 1970's. So it's been a public museum since the '70's."

" And was she the last of the little old lady living in the house a long time?"

" Yes. She was, descended from the Aiken's and the Rhett's that originally built the structure."

" So you don't worry about things like this that looks like it's about to collapse. What about cracks in the plaster?"

" Well, cracks like this, they're large and we feel might move over time. We put on these strain gauges. And this allows us to monitor any movement over time so that these are regularly monitored."

" This tells part of the story. You try to keep the pigeons from roosting here------"

" Right."

" but you haven't done anything about repairing the screens or the grill."

" Right. Anything to stop the deteriorations. It's frozen in time."

" What's in here?"

" This is the ballroom and this would have been one of the grandest spaces. The Aiken family was one of the wealthiest in the south and by far the wealthiest in state."

" And did they lose their fortune?"

" No they didn't. But as you can see, they didn't do a whole lot after the civil war."

" Wow."

" Well, in sympathy for all the other people that did lose their fortunes, it felt that it would be you know------"

" What chivalry."

" Yes."

" It's remarkable."

" It's a treasure for the, the, the art historian. Everything in here is, is a document."

" Yes."

" I can just see, you know, the southern belles at the ball before the civil war and the wall flowers perhaps at these horsehair settees."

" Yes. It's a beautiful as far as the------"

" Everything is just still here."

" It's all here."

" What's out there?"

" Well, those are the out buildings that I was telling you about. I think you're really gonna be surprised. These out buildings are separated from the main house, but they form ranges that go out in the back yard."

" And the one on the right here would've been the kitchen or?"

" Yes, this is kitchen and servant's quarters."

" Laundry and all of that. And in here?"

" Well, this would've been for their transportation needs."

" Yes."

" A place to keep, stable."

" Well look at these doors and the hinges."

" Yes. These were replicated match, to match the original doors which were missing. But we were careful to keep the jam and restore it back to its original appearance."

" What's inside?"

" You're gonna be surprised in here."

" Wow. And look at this."

" These carriages are really fabulous. These carriages have been here probably since the 1850's. And it's rumored that the then Governor Aiken who lived at the house, toured Jefferson Davis around in Charleston in this carriage."

" The president of the confederacy."

" Yes."

" Yes. Well this could've probably been in use up say, until the 1920's?"

" Yes and you'll see the evolution of transportation is right across the hall here."

" So this is where they kept the horses?"

" Yes the carriages were kept on that side and the horses were on this side."

" Look at these arches ha?"

" Yes. This is a gothic revival motif that picks up on the outside of the building. And each arch represents a stall."

" This is so, when you look at the wear on these wooden pieces------"

" Yes."

" where the horse would've scratched their, their chins."

" And it's a great doorway."

" It's beautiful."

" This, this doorway was for the hayloft. They could bring the hay up into this space and drop it down into the stalls. And to get it up, they use this jin-pole. It still has the wooden pulleys and it still functions just like It's new."

" It's incredible. Everything's intact here."

" Yes."

" Hey. Can we take a look at the kitchen?"

" Sure. Let's go there."

" That's something else huh?"

" Yes, it's great [unk] ."

" All of these over here would've been domestic functions."

" Right."

" You have the kitchen and the servant's quarters on this side. And all of these board and batten doors and shutters just close up and will open for ventilation. "

" Yes."

" Looks like the kitchen table fell over."

" Yes. Well that was probably a work table because this was where most of the cooking was done."

" Yes."

" And this is a really nice feature. You really don't see this very often. This is state of the art 1850's kitchen."

" Wow."

" Here we had a 4-burner stove."

" This is all cast iron?"

" Yes. Solid cast iron. Probably came out of a catalogue somewhere."

" Yes."

" Cast iron lids and inside. Even the, these are lined with cast iron."

" So they would've, had coal fires down below?"

" Right. Coal fires and maybe this was a, an oven or they could've had a, a boiling pot here for boiling water."

" So this is the kitchen remodel from the 1850's but the house goes back to the turn of the century near the 1800's."

" Right, right. So in 1817, this might have been a large cooking fireplace with a, a big [unk] iron to, to carry pots and pans."

" Did they ever get a kitchen in the 20th century?"

" They did. But all they had then was a nice box and a, and say a small stove cooking------"

" Up in, inside the house."

" inside the house. Right."

" The property. Yes."

" What, what, what is this?"

" The place is real unusual. This is an icebox and they would store ice in here, maybe in the kitchen or in the house and keep their dairy products or maybe even ice cream. That was a real popular item."