Beautiful mansion with divine architecture and informative tour guide. Wish the rooms were not roped off but I love the display of art and artifacts!!! Beautifully collection! Definitely worth seeing! read more

While IMPRESSIVE & MAJESTIC from the outside, the inside contains 100's of 1 of a kind treasures & art pieces from the Ming Dynasty, thru Canton, the Wales from England etc. The history is classic Charleston ~ about the wealthy & how they lived and spent their time & . Always something to learn on these tours so well worth seeing. The gentleman and current owner has assembled quite an art gallery and actually lives on site which is rare a deserves huge praise for his care of the mansion & grounds. For me the insides were/are a chasm of stuff some interesting & some just odd, however I have a laymen's eye not the eye of a collector, & certainly not the pocket book. read more

See all

Echoing the sentiments of many other people, the Calhoun Mansion was underwhelming to say the least, and the tour had virtually nothing to do with the Calhoun family's history. (Although the tour did explain much of the history of the original owners, which was cool.) Our tour guide was a young woman who was very passionate about history, so that enthusiasm was the best part of the tour. That being said, there was much to be desired by the time we were done. First off, the admission fee is exorbitant for what you get to do. $17 a person and you can't even go into the rooms! You literally have to wait in line single file and peak into the roped off rooms. I understand that there is a private owner who occupies the residence, but either let people get the full experience or don't bother at all. Luckily my husband and I were 2 out of a group of 6, so it wasn't packed. But if I were in a large group I'd be very frustrated and disappointed. Although a fair amount of the construction and lighting is still original, none of the furnishings are. Instead, it's a conglomerate of mish-mosh antiques gathered by someone who clearly has a hoarding problem. I think that's the part that bothered me the most; we paid $34 to "tour" a "historic" home that was really just a storage unit for antiques. It was a flagrant display of gross consumerism under the guise of "taste" and "sophistication." If you pay the admissions fee, you're paying to fund his hoarding habit and keep the owner in the business of exorbitant spending and exploitative tourism. The two stars are SOLELY for the enthusiastic tour guide and the beautiful garden outside the home. It would be getting 1 star otherwise. read more

Calhoun Mansion - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

An antique cluttered Mansion. Too bad. Hard to imagine what the House used to really look like when the current owner is using it as a storage unit for his own collection, including modern art that jas nothing to do with the age of the home. You don't get to see the whole house either because he lives there. Ticket price is too steep for this. read more

Calhoun Mansion - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

See all

We got caught in the rain & decided to stop in for a tour. It's $17 for the regular tour & you see the first floor and most of the 2nd with no access to the 3rd floor as the current owner lives there. There are A LOT of antiques in there, the richness is astounding and intimidating at the same time. Our guide, Ed, was really helpful and answered every question about antiques that was asked. It's about an hour tour so if you have time to spare, it's a good idea to stop here before stopping in to White Point Gardens and the Battery. read more

See all

A great tour by Jennifer highlighted and incredible house and its art collection. A must!

This is a total scam and just a way for the current owner to make some money. Just so you know, it became the Calhoun Mansion when the daughter of the original owner married into the family. The original owners were apparently not well liked by Charleston society, that is how it got it;s name. There is very little that is original to the house, some Tiffany lamps and the woodwork and windows. What makes this the "OMG house" is the junk that is crammed into it. Is there anything of any value? I am not an antique expert and I would be curious to hear from someone who is. Calling Antiques Roadshow !!! You are allowed on the first 2 floors but not into any of the rooms. You can look in from the roped off doorways. The gardens are lovely and there are a few benches upon which you can sit ~ totally free. I have just told you everything there is to see. read more

Five stars for the beautiful architecture, the rags-to-riches cat, and the hilarious tour guide. One star for the clutter, lack of actual period pieces, and what you can actually see on the tour. Read on for my full scoop... I majored in history so when I arrived in Charleston, I was itching for a little historical home touring. The Calhoun mansion is featured on the Charleston tourist map so I thought - hey perfect! This is screaming my name! We arrived at the house and started by touring the gardens and the gift shop. We liked what we saw and decided to purchase the $16 tour pass for the house. I have to give our tour guide credit for giving us a lot of background on the Calhoun family and the Charleston merchant industry. But I did think it was odd that we spent 15 minutes in the entrance way getting all this background. Until she opened the door to the main hallway... Wow. What a cluttered, insane mess of antiques from a million different eras and countries. I feel like if they had advertised this tour as the greatest antique window shopping tour ever, it would have been more accurate. You couldn't even focus on the architecture of the house because your eyes were drawn to the Hindu statues and taxidermy explosion. Yes, there are a lot of dead animals on the wall with pretty aggressive expressions. I really lost focus on what the tour guide was saying after the entrance way because I was looking at everything else around me. There is a cat who lives there. She was found as a stray and now she rules the entire mansion. We got to meet her so that was pretty awesome. A real life Cinderella story. My advice: If you like antiques, go for it. If you are looking for period pieces relevant to Charleston, go elsewhere. read more

See all

I'm surprised at the low ratings because this was my favorite home to visit in Charleston. The house was also the filming site for the movie The Notebook, North & South miniseries, and the movie series Scarlett. What a gorgeous and beautiful home. To put yourself in that period and imagine yourself living there is unbelievable. There are two tours: the standard tour is $15 and that is the best one. You get to see the first and second floors. There is a $50 private tour which includes the third floor which right now mostly guest rooms for the current owners' guests. There are so many items to look at in every room you are bound to miss something. I highly recommend this as a must-see home in Charleston. Visit the home on a Sunday when parking is free all day on the street. I would definitely view again because the antiques and collection items grow every few years. read more

Calhoun Mansion - Front of house - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

See all

My wife and I were on a "staycation" of sorts this weekend and we decided to play a little tourist in our own city (live in West Ash). We got there about 11:30am on Friday and it was perfect weather for walking the streets of Charleston (67 and overcast). Calhoun mansion is very noticeable as it stands out above the rest of the surrounding homes at 24000 sq/ft with a grand entryway and extensive well-manicured gardens. The gift shop is in the basement area toward the right side of the home where you get your tickets for the tours. It is $17/ea which is pretty reasonable for the tour in my opinion (about 45-hour). We had a very witty tour guide who was extremely knowledgeable. His partial sarcasm and dry humor were perfect for this tour in my opinion. He even called out some New Yorkers in our group which was too funny. The current family who owns the property literally brought 13 tractor trailer loads full of their antique art collection, furniture and artifacts from across the world. It was very impressive. There were somewhere around 30 rooms I believe and every single room is filled too to bottom with art, decor, historic furniture etc. it was very impressive. My favorite piece of them all was a beautiful elephant tusk decanter at the far end of the foyer. Stunning! So much history in this place (albeit not as much local Charleston history) however I recommend it for sure to people who are interested in historic artifacts and art. Not to mention the incredible home itself! Original walnut ceiling on the top floor as well as other several incredible decor pieces. It's a grand display and the tour was worth the money. Don't go into the tour thinking you will learn much about life in the early 1900's, it's more of a museum full of artifacts. Check it out sometime though it's worth an hour for sure! read more

Definitely beautiful outside. Probably some of the best landscaping I've ever seen. However, I didn't take the tour. I couldn't bear to pay $15 for a 30 minute tour. I was a bit disappointed in the outside. It was gorgeous. However, it had been described as an "American castle." It wasn't. It was just a giant home. Beautiful, yes, but did not evoke "castle" feelings. read more

A beautiful grand 24,000 square feet mansion filled to bursting with the owner's priceless antique collection. I was questioning going on the $17.00 tour, since so many reviews have been negative about the mansion. I was glad I visited and saw for myself what the fuss was all about. Yes, the mansion is so full of antiques that you can only peek into small doorways a few at a time. I think the mansion could have been better set up for guest viewing pleasure. Being able to actually enter the rooms would be a huge plus. And, the tour is short. I am sure there must be a lot visitors do not see. I would recommend the tour if you can easily spare the time and the $17.00 admission charge. If you are short on time and want something more Charleston historic, I recommend the Washington- Hayward house instead. read more

We took a tour of this Mansion on our first trip to Charleston and it was really unique and interesting! The house is beautiful and there are a lot of antiques everywhere. It's like a museum and we loved the experience. The tour guide was very nice and so was the person who sold the tickets. I also appreciated that the tour guide could answer everyone's questions and was very knowledgeable about the house and it's contents. Thank you to whoever owns this home for opening it to the public so we can all enjoy seeing the treasures inside! read more

I think it's important to be clear that this is not a house tour that provides an accurate representation of living in the 1900s. Rooms are not set up so you can see how people lived then. The house basically serves as a museum for all of the owner's antiques (Dave C's description of hoarders on Fifth Avenue was spot on). I was expecting more of a Great Gatsby-esque experience, but no, this is definitely not that. If you love antiques and want to ask questions about specific pieces, then this would be a great experience for you. Otherwise, it might make sense to look into one of the other mansion tours. read more

Our first visit to Charleston and late in the afternoon we came across this quick home tour. The young lady presenting gave a very knowledgeble presentation in a very friendly fashion answering any questions that the group had. I do believe that the home would show better if only some of the many items were removed, allowing the guests to actually appreciate the house and its architecture rather than displaying some of the items strewn about in various locations. Just my opinion. read more

We enjoyed seeing inside this mansion. Like the reviewers have said previously it's more of a museum for all these artifacts. Our tour guide was Sue and she was interesting. You can't take photos inside. read more

Meh. Not really my cup of tea. The tour was nice. However, the current owners collecting by far overwhelmed the history of the home. The $17 a person fee should be more like $5-$7 a person. read more

So glad we did this tour, incredible mansion the wood work is amazing I've never seen wood floors like these and talk about an amazing collection of art. Our guide was wonderfully knowledgeable in the history and the mansion. read more

This mansion is beautiful and the history is fascinating. The house is chock full of unrelated antiques but the collection is fascinating and as long as you are prepared for what the tour is you will love it. Fortunately for me I did not receive radiation poisoning from the dining room (which the previous reviewer experienced) but I am in good health and perhaps my body fought it off. read more

This is a tourist scam. No connection to John C. Calhoun (the house was built in 1876 and a daughter of the original owner married his grandson). No real connection to Charleston history or even coherence in what's in the house. Very expensive for such a tour (especially given that you stand in a hallway peering into rooms, then go upstairs and stand in a hallway peering into rooms). Our tour guide was obnoxious. The one saving grace is that if you've ever wondered what it would look like to visit the home of a very, very rich hoarder: this is it. Even the tour guide mocked the owners' propensity to send more and more and more stuff every couple of weeks. People come to Charleston and want to experience history. This house takes that impulse and manipulates it. It's fun in a crazy way, but not something worth spending an hour of your life on. read more

I'd expect more for $15 admissions (that's the admissions fee at the guggenheim, and they're 100X bigger and allow you to wander all day). The Calhoun Mansion is interesting in theory. It's the largest residence in Charleston, and one of the oldest. However, they only let you check out a few rooms. And since it's now a private residence, it's filled (and I mean, FILLED) with the current owners eclectic antiques-- from every era and style. They haven't done much to help visitors envision what it was like to live there in the late 1800s as one of Charleston's wealthiest families. The thirty minute tour leaves a bit to be desired... In summary, I wouldn't call this place a museum. I'd call it an expensive walk through someone's personal, mismatched, stuff. read more

For $12 See How a High End Pack Rat Lives The Calhoun Mansion is the largest private residence that is on tour in Charleston. It was built by a shrewd business man after the Civil War for an astounding $250K in the 1800's. The house is named the Calhoun Mansion for John Calhoun's grandson who married the owner's daughter and lived in the house. But unfortunately for them he lost all his money in the Great Depression and then the house was owned by the city. There is plenty of history in between then and now but now is when the freaky collector has moved in his collection and lives there. The house is owned by an international litigator who has collected an obscene amount of art, antiques and other oddities. Some include foot stools made out of Elephant Feet. You haven't really lived I guess until you can rest your tired feet on the feet of a great pachyderm. Other oddities include the wall of heads (all animal and water fowl), rooms filled with so much expensive crap you wonder if the guy is channeling Liberace. It was featured in the "Notebook" and other films have been shot there. Overall, if you need to have a house tour in the Battery make it the Calhoun Mansion. read more

We climbed the many steps up to the gift shop in the back to buy our tickets, (where the restroom for 1 is located too), then walked through the well manicured gardens to get to the front steps up to the front door to start the tour. So as far as I could tell, NOT ADA accessible. The house tour was OK, those of us in the back of the group could not hear it in the entryway. The mosquitos were out in force, thus the bug spray by the door! The house was interesting, and filled with extravagant over the top items collected by the owner. Quirky for sure! We saw the first floor, and most of the second floor rooms, from the hall, they were roped off of course. read more

Find the hidden art museum! Be sure to brush up on your Cezanne, Matisse, Modigliani, Kandinski and Klimt before you go. Although the tour guides will not discuss any of the paintings (you can thank their insurance company for that), the paintings in the mansion are fantastic. read more

The Calhoun Mansion is not a museum, so adjust your expectations, and enjoy the fact that you get the chance to walk through a few areas of a fancy, historical (and yes, jammed-packed with stuff) private home in Charleston. The owner was at the house the weekend we visited, so I don't know if that impacted how much we were allowed to see. We got to see some of the first & second floors. We even got to see the owner's cat, giving herself a bath in the dining room. Hilarious reminder that real people actually live here. Our guide, Priscilla, started off our tour sounding a little rehearsed & scripted (turns out she's been doing this for four years, so I'm sure she's given this same tour a gazillion times), but she did loosen up as the 30-minutes went on. She even kept us a little later, as we were still upstairs at 5pm when all the clocks in the house started chiming. I think she said there were over 90 clocks in the residence (although not all of them chime, thank goodness!) As others have stated, this house is full of stuff. Lots & lots of stuff. Expensive knickknacks. Art. Animal heads & feet. Antiques. Junk. You can describe it a number of ways. It's hard to envision someone actually chooses to live among so much clutter. None of the stuff seemed to go together or represent much of the history of the house (a few original pieces & stories are here), but that is part of the appeal. Do I need to rush back to Calhoun Mansion? No. But am I ok paying $15 for this interesting, educational, and somewhat amusing visit? Yep. read more

Calhoun Mansion, Historic Downtown Charleston SC Wanted to see one of the most beautiful historic homes in Charleston and decided to tour the Calhoun mansion. Very disappointed!! We paid $15 per person (no military discount) for a tour of two stories of what looked like American pickers!!! The guide tied to be funny but dry. We couldn't touch or walk in the rooms as they were all roped off to the general public. The owners have a huge collection of artifacts that seem out of place in the house (not belonging to the period). The house is cluttered and too busy to appreciate it. The guide tried to make the tour longer by giving us a small run down in some pieces, the guide also tried to have more interaction with the group but failed. For the looks of the crowd, we wished we could have walked into each room!! Overall, we felt as it was a waste of time, no historic value for the price! Would we go back again? Definitely will skip. read more

Well, its all been said before. Beautiful grounds, lovely architecture, wealthy hoarders. I had a free hour on a recent trip, so I popped in. Tours are offered every half hour or so. Worth it if you like to be a witness to the collecting instincts of a very affluent individual. read more

From the outside, I thought this was the go-to choice for our first downtown home tour. And being the largest downtown residence, I thought surely it would be grand. It is OVERRATED and definitely gaudy. You walk in and see the chandelier and you think, ok, this is beautiful, I'm excited. Then you walk into the main parlor area and it's sensory overload. It's like the people who live there (yes, in the home you're touring!) are simply showcasing how much money they have. Unfortunately, they don't have any taste. It's just a bunch of stuff, piles and piles and rooms and rooms worth, with no central theme and just far too much to enjoy. Not my style. But if you like to see a bunch of gold stuff and a lot of weird relics, you should go. If you are looking for traditional, historical sites, skip this one and head to Middleton Place or Edmondston-Alston downtown. read more

This house is a treasure trove of period items, the rooms are overloaded with antiques and pieces of art from the Williams/Calhoun era. Thankfully the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and spoke quickly giving plenty of time throughout for questions. My only complaint would be that very little is actually related to either the Williams or Calhoun family... The gardens are small but beautiful and the lady at the ticket office was extremely polite ( southern hospitality). read more

I visited here under the last owner back in the 80's and enjoyed it much more. The new owner obviously has a lot of spending money and buys a LOT of stuff. Every table is crammed full. Can we have a table with a vase? No it must have 20 vases on it! Beautiful home not so beautifully appointed. There are so many things its hard to enjoy any one thing. Don't get me wrong there are some extremely expensive pieces on display here but not being a huge fan of the overcrowded I would be making e-bayer's very happy. $15.00 is a bit much for the tour IMO. I would rather go see the Biltmore. read more

Our tour guide - who's name fails me - described this as the Oh My God! Oh my God! and OH MY GOD! house. It really did describe it well. He did warn if you're a fan of minimalism - which I usually am - this house isn't for you. First, the house was beautiful. I love these old mansions. But as one of my best friends has also learned, I don't necessarily want to live in one. The stuff inside. Oh the stuff... There was so much of it. On the 'basic' tour you get to explore the first two floors & rooms. Our guide explained the reasons behind some of the designs in the house as well as other history of the house. It was odd to think that a family currently lives there among all the 'collectibles'. The cat was friendly and was not shy about asking for attention. Somehow an animal who is usually so cold warmed up this old house. read more

Most of the reviews about this place is very accurate; you're standing in the hall peering into rooms to see antiques crammed into each space. Sure, there is history and some of the furniture and decor are interesting to hear about, but it's really just peeking into maybe half of the rooms in the house. Instead, it might be better to just buy a book about the house for cheaper at the museum shop; it has photos of all the rooms. read more

Calhoun Mansion - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

This postwar construction mansion is filled to every corner with fabulous gilded age furniture, items, mirrors, chandeliers with almost all original construction. The Tiffany stenciling looks like it was done last week. There are so many breathtaking items you could see something new and amazing each time you walked through a room. read more

Essentially just a mansion about the current owner and his antique collectables. Hardly any info about the history of charleston, which is what we expected. Beautiful home and collectables read more

Don't waste your money. I'm angry they call this a "museum". In reality, they charge you $16 for a lame tour of a few rooms packed to the brim with random antiques collected by the wealthy owners that have nothing to do with southern history. You learn virtually nothing about the house or it's history. The tour guide couldn't answer any questions and had just memorized some of the obnoxiously overdone antique collection stuffed in the house. You got absolutely no sense of 19th century Carolina life as none of the furnishings were original. I can only imagine how absolutely insufferable the owners of this place must be as they continue to cash in with false advertising. Yuck! read more

We took the tour on Tuesday April 16th, the docent was very knowledgeable. the interior was magnificent. I highly recommend a visit.

Beautifully restored house, yes. Unbelievable interior, yes. Do the house and interior decorations match? No but everything inside was very impressive. Items from all over the world, from all different eras stuffed into almost every inch of this house. Guide was very knowledgeable about the pieces inside the house. Downside: No pictures allowed inside the house. Tour seemed very rushed. Tour was also fairly expensive. $45 for 3 people. House is 3 stories, but you only see 1.5 floors (most of the first floor and some of the rooms on the second floor), you don't even see all the rooms on all those floors. It may be the biggest residence, but what's the point of paying that much when you probably don't even see half of it. Lower level is all private condos too. If you want to see a lot of expensive pieces from all over the world in one location, come here. If you want to see a historic house with matching historic interior, go elsewhere. read more

EXPENSIVE TOURIST TRAP. This is less a mansion tour and more an exhibit of artifacts from the gilded era. The "mansion tour" lasts about 5 minutes and the rest of the 35 minute tour is spent talking about tons and tons of artifacts crammed into each room of the house. Wish we would have gone to another mansion that had more "house history." The tour guide was delightful and knew her stuff but the content was not interesting. read more

OMG is what everyone said as we entered the house. It was different from any historic house I have ever seen and I have been from Biltmore to Newport and then some! The tour guide was informative and invited questions. It was astounding to me that one person dusts the whole house! If you want to see something definitely different, this would be the house for you. It is certainly not your average historic house. I absolutely loved it! read more

This was disappointing and overpriced for the experience ($17). It's a great house, beautiful really, but my favorite parts were the outside and the gardens and fountains. The inside has a fantastically unique and broad collection of things, but I found it less interesting than expected especially as someone who loves art, enjoys history, and likes eclectic things. The tour guide was knowledgable and friendly, certainly enjoyed his take on things and the fact that he answered all questions (you could ask about any item and he would likely know something about it). But I was disappointed we spent $34 for what we saw and spent 45 mins on, and wouldn't recommend it. Would suggest a short walk/exploration around the grounds. I do understand that it's a privately owned home, so the owner should certainly charge what he'd like. And I do appreciate and am grateful for the fact that he makes his collection open to the public in this way. Many historical and interesting things to see. But it just wasn't as interesting as I expected. Maybe the person who recommended it to me hyped it up too much and ruined my expectations. read more