Having a house that has been preserved for over 200+ years is pretty amazing taking with the fact that there is history of this house and the family which relates to the one down the road (magnolia gardens or plantation). Our tour guide was ok. Rosemary I believe her name was which she knew how to do her job and told the story by the books but I was a little skeptical about what was said so I did some researching when I left... Now I'm not saying I'm a history major or anything but history is a big part of my interest and guessing on how things played out or even pieced together by a tour guide isn't what I'm looking especially. The tour would have been better if we had a smaller group. We had about 23 people in our tour group and and yes the living room area was ok with stand there for a while but once you get into confined spaces everyone is crunched together since we were all only allowed to stand on the carpet to preserve the natural wood. Yes it was hot, very hot and sweaty and not the one everyone enjoys unless the person next to you that you don't know enjoys that kind of stuff. Our guide was not only in a rush but also rambled on to different topics which also never pertained to the tour. Touché. It really made us want to walk around the house ourselves and make believe what each room was used for since there were no information guide throughout. read more

On vacation an traveling through the South for two weeks and stopped and toured Drayton Hall. The cost was reasonable and the tour guide was very knowledgeable, but seemed to be having a bad day. Not very friendly. read more

A really interesting experience to see a preserved (not restored) plantation home. Our fantastic guide (Kelly? Carrie?) made the visit so much better with her passion and enthusiasm. Oh and as we left the plantation there was a small lizard who tried to hitch a ride on the windshield. I felt a little bad when we flew off as we accelerated onto the highway. So my advice is: Be sure to check your vehicle for lizard hitchhikers before you drive away. read more

I have taken a few months to digest Drayton Hall, and I'm still not sure what to think of it. Ultimately, I think your experience here will come down to what you are expecting. As many reviewers have pointed out, Drayton Hall is preserved, not restored. That means it is old. The paint is cracked, the moldings are crumbling, and parts of the upstairs are too dangerous for visitors to explore. Just down the street, other houses have been rebuilt into their glory days, but not Drayton. There is tremendous value in preserving the past rather than reconstructing an image of it and I'm sure that the knowledge gleaned from years of studying this house will result in many great books but unless you are really really really into history you aren't going to love it. Its historical preservation does not make for a great vacation. The tour is interesting, no doubt about it, but this isn't the grand Charleston plantation you want to see. Drive up the road to Magnolia Plantation. There you will see the house as it was in its glory, not as it is 300 years later. read more

This place is completely amazing!!! The house is the only original plantation left in this area. The grounds are immaculate and the visitors center is so nice! It was extremely hot so make sure you bring water. Our guide was very nice as well. You will not go wrong visiting this gem. Make sure you stop by the slave graveyard and pay your respects to the one's that built most of the home and worked the land for hundreds of years!! read more

Forget all of the other plantations in Charleston. This is true PRESERVATION; the house has not been touched since it's construction, that is, there has been no major reconstruction (only reconstruction for the sake of not having the house fall down...). There's something curious about walking into a pre-Revolution house and being told that a certain room had only been re-painted twice or three times. The paint is cracking, the woodwork is creaky and delicate, and I absolutely loved it. It is so ironically refreshing to finally see something that has not changed since it's beginning. Forget restoration, I love this whole preservation thing Drayton has going on. If you want to visit an authentic plantation in the deep South, go for this one. I've visited many plantations around the South, and I'd have to say that this is in my top 5 favorites. read more

A great place to tour when you are visiting Charleston. Our tour guide Patty was amazing! Overall, a great place to learn about history.

Beautiful. This plantation house is my favorite in the Charleston area (and there are a decent number of them within an hours drive). The house itself was spared from the invading Union army because the family hung signs on the edge of the property saying the house was being used as a makeshift Smallpox hospital. How cool is that? Thusly, the house was not burned, looted, etc and has not been retro-fitted with plumbing or electricity. It looks just as it did when it was built. The grounds aren't as impressive as other plantations close by, but I really love this old place and you should check it out if you like that kind of thing. Definitely worth the drive from town (about 30 minutes). read more

I thought the grounds and house were beautiful. Everyone that works there was very nice and helpful.

Drayton Hall is a beautiful, old world plantation located along Plantation Row along the Ashley River. It is the sister property to Magnolia Plantation, though the two couldn't be more different. Drayton Hall is an example of preservation, not restoration. The home has no furniture, has not been painted in over one hundred years and molding on the ceiling is missing. Don't expect Magnolia Plantation here. Walking into Drayton is like walking into a working plantation home in 1855. It is a breathtaking home, well worth a visit. The tour guides are all incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the home, making the experience even more exceptional. read more

Unlike the overwhelming kitsch and touristy trappings of some plantations, Drayton Hall is a monument to minimalism. As the guide put it the focus is on preservation not restoration. This is a welcome change to so many other home tours. The African-American Cemetery is a haven of peace and history and with the benches facing the Ashley River, which flows behind the grounds, you'll want to make sure to bring some snacks to with to cap off a wonderful few hours. PS: The actual house doesn't impress me at all. read more

We visited Drayton Hall in March, 2021. It was a beautiful day to visit this beautiful plantation. Seeing it in it's "preserved" state rather than in a "restored" state was very interesting. It left me with my imagination as to what life was like there, and I appreciated that perspective. Strangely, one of the most interesting aspects for me was the circular mounds in front of the house. I imagined Seeing carriages drive up the long driveway, passing the pond where children were playing and ducks swimming, circling around the round tiered flower garden with a large statue in the middle, and watching women in sweeping gowns step out of those carriages. I love the Victorian era. Thank you for preserving history. read more

See The bones Of a real Plantation home. Quick tour and pretty grounds to go explore. read more

I absolutely loved it! The house is so beautiful, the people that ran the place where so helpful and informative. Our tour guide, Bob, felt like a link to the past, he did an amazing job and he conveyed his love and passion for the place infectiously. I agree with the other review - the fact that it wasn't restored or "upgraded" was refreshing. No furnishing in the house, some felt the lack of it - but I thought it really helped showcase the beauty of the design of the house better, also the detail that has been saved through the years is just amazing. I am so glad we checked this place out! Also - for the price - $14 - you can't beat it - and that takes care of everything - Other places had a price for general admission and then more for the house and then more for the gardens and more for the swamp... whatever - this place was the best! read more

Tara was a.....farm Despite the romanticized grandeur you may remember from having seen "Gone with the Wind," plantations were working farms. Few were baroque iconic residences like Hearst Castle or the Biltmore Estate. Of all the plantations we visited(3), this house was my favorite because it is the best preserved. It never burned down. While the grounds are well maintained, there are no wonderful gardens like Middleton Place. The house still has no electricity, no plumbing, no bathrooms. Yes, they used bed pans & outhouses. Since indoor plumbing was used in Rome 1500 years before, you begin to appreciate how much western civilization regressed during the dark ages. The house has not been lived in for some time & has no furniture. The reddish brick exterior looks either extremely well preserved or well restored. Our charming & pretty tour guide recited a realistic history of the fortunes of the farmer owners. There were times of prosperity & times of extreme austerity. During a past time of austerity, an owner with an apparent decorating disability, painted the house interior blueish gray to save money. My favorite place in the house was the upstairs Ballroom. After my group left, I danced a short Viennese Waltz around the room! read more

The tour, the land, the home and the staff were exquisite. I was truly impressed by Drayton Hall and all its history. Like it's been said in other reviews, you won't be seeing the curtains that were made into dresses during the Civil War; this property is no frills and no glam which, in my opinion, makes the history of it all more realistic and believable. Don't forget to stop at the African American cemetery as you leave..it's chilling and sobering. PS- Bringing teenagers here for the house tour could create a grudge holding, tense ride back home. The house tour is NOT good for young children. OH! and thank you, Betsy, for a well structured and content rich tour. read more

If you're looking for something to do, add a Drayton Hall visit to your list. The grounds are gorgeous and the history is rich. Schedule a tour of the house and plan to stop by the cafe for a coffee or glass of wine. read more

Drayton Hall African Americans connections was informative and eye opening about the South Carolina rice culture. The house is not bogged down with pretentious furnishings but still gives you a sense of an amazing history and a home built by my ancestors. And still standing! The African American cemetery is a place for remembering the ancestors and their will to survive.Adding some more photos. read more

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Drayton Hall is a bare-bones look at a Georgian Revival masterpiece built in the mid-1700s. Absolutely fascinating as this is a lived-in house with changes to the original structure that were dictated by time and necessity. I believe it was even sold to the National Trust by a Drayton family member. Our guide, Eric, was very knowledgeable and welcomed questions by the group, which thankfully was small since it is hot in an unairconditioned brick building in July. The grounds are beautiful and with a little imagination you can easily sense what a grand and busy place this plantation must have been. At one time it covered 75,000-100,000 acres- the mind boggles at the size. Truly a piece of southern heritage that deserves preserving. read more

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Mary Jo. She was able to tell the Charleston story of not just the opulent lives the elite planters but also the enslaved Africans. There was no sermonizing about the evils of slavery, but instead the a presentation of facts that allowed the listeners to draw their own conclusions. To see the tiny fingerprints of children in the bricks they help manufacture in the 1730s let's you see history. The architecture is superbly preserved with so many details that tell about the lives of the Draytons through the years. I have toured all of the plantations around Charleston that are open to the public, and this is the best preserved house. Don't be concerned about the lack of furniture. The details of mantels, crown molding, floor boards, shutters, etc. are fascinating. The price of admission includes the house tour and a PowerPoint presentation, Port to Plantation, that delves into the big picture of the slave trade. It was nice to not be hit with another menu after paying the admission price. The gardens are not as expansive as neighboring plantations, but the river front venue is still spectacular. Thanks to Mary Jo for sharing her enthusiasm for such a fascinating property. read more

Interesting and authentic southern plantation, though a bit sanitized from the real thing (the slave houses seem to have been converted to administration buildings). I visited this Saturday and was disappointed to see that the main plantation house is undergoing minor renovations...unfortunately the managers of the plantation don't have the foresight (or just don't care) to bother removing the tools used for the renovations from the site, even when work isn't being performed. The result is a sloppy mess which mars your photos. Annoying, especially given the $22 entrance fee....per person. read more

I did not go on any other plantation tours, but Peggy did a wonderful job as our tour guide and was incredibly knowledgeable. Not only did she know a great deal about the architecture, but the Draytons as well. Grounds were very wet when we toured, and we didn't wear the appropriate shoes for that. Consequently, we didn't explore beyond the house. If you're a AAA member, you get a bit of a discount. Well worth it either way. read more

Took a tour of this beautiful home on Sun afternoon! Brick made with slaves hands, original cypress walls, plaster ceilings to die for and a winding staircase leading to a ballroom! Grounds inc live oak trees, marshes with alligators and an original well and privy! Don't miss this valuable piece of Southern charmer! read more

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If you are looking for a lovely location that has preserved history versus restoring it, then you should visit Drayton Hall. The guides are very knowledgeable about the building and the grounds. There are a few lovely walks that you can take along the river and other grounds throughout the plantation. I would recommend that visitors ALSO visit one of the restored plantations, because it gives you a chance to understand the true beauty of the then-incredible architecture and decorating styles. read more

Had the most amazing day here! Great tour guide, stunning house and gardens. Kind of out of the way from downtown, and I'm not sure the average person who's not a gardens weirdo like me would spend all day there. But we did. read more

Go here! When I arrived at Drayton Hall, I expected that I'd be visiting a really long hall. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was totally wrong! Drayton Hall is actually a really big house!! This makes more sense because it would be weird to go on a tour of a hall. However, I do recommend that they change their name to "Drayton Really Big House" since calling it a "Hall" might confuse people. The tour guide, Eric, was very personable. I didn't smell him because I don't have a very good olfactory system, but he was well-dressed so I bet he smelled nice as well. He also carried around a rather large silver spoon and used it to point at stuff. Yet another reason to like him. I was busy taking pictures of the place so I was sort of aloof, but I'm pretty sure he was quite knowledgeable about the house too. From what I did hear, I can honestly say that I learned a lot. Among other things, I heard a lot of different names and dates and words and phrases like "important," "historic home," "wealthy folks," "slaves," "calcium phosphate," "Montgomery Guards," and "Phil, you have really nice buns." (I heard this from nearly everyone in my tour group. I blushed each time I heard it.) Don't come here expecting something glamorous. This place is all heart and soul, my friend, so be warned. Drayton Hall was built in 1742. I'm pretty sure that's the last time it was cleaned as well. They simply must hire a cleaning lady. Or better yet, they could have visitors clean the place through an interactive adventure! I have some great ideas for this. For example, they could tie several shihtzus to wooden handles, and then have a cleaning race. Each visitor would grab a "shihtzu mop" and hurry to see who is able to mop his or her corner the fastest. (You might think this is animal cruelty, but it's not. Shihtzus really like it; I saw it on youtube.) The winner could then have their photo placed above the mantle until the next group tours. Also, I actually don't think this place should be cleaned, I just wanted to get my idea out there for a "shihtzu mop" contest and I needed a cover for suggesting it. I can't think of a better way to make the tour more memorable, can you? You might be thinking of going to the Magnolia or Middleton plantations instead of this one because they are all glitzy 'n stough. If you do this, you are a fool and should be placed in a medieval stock for three hours so that an example can be made of you for preferring an overpriced façade to the real deal. Drayton Hall is legit, and it's pretty dang awesome in all its crusty glory! You should visit this mofo. read more

If you only have time to visit one southern plantation / estate, Drayton Hall is worth picking. They provide a nice tour.

We thouroughly enjoyed our tour of Drayton Hall. I have toured a lot of colonial plantation homes in Virginia, where the homes are full of furniture and reenactors, so it was a nice change of pace (not better per say, but different) to tour just the bare bones and let the history speak for itself. Our tour guide was wonderful and informative and really brought the place to life. The African-American history lecture was alright, but honestly I think I was hoping to hear just a little more about the specific people who lived on this particular plantation. Still, I was glad to hear an entire lecture of a woman saying over and over again (in more civil words) "No, really, slavery was seriously, seriously messed up, and it happened right where we are sitting, and it was messed up, and everyone died, and it was a HUGE part of this place, and it was messed up and horrible beyond belief." I was curious to see how slavery would be addressed, and expected it to be just kinda mentioned in passed and swept under the rug, so having a whole program was a good call. Along the same lines, by far the most impressive aspect of our visit was stopping by the African American cemetery. Standing there in the woods, knowing that all those people laying there had suffered, but now had a safe and revered place to rest and finally be respected, was a really sobering feeling. On a more lighthearted note, the grounds were simple, beautiful, and peaceful. You're free to roam around as much as you want, and when we went it wasn't crowded at all, so we got a chance to rest alone by the pond for a while and watch a heron fishing. I regret not having the time to squeeze in the video tour, since I think it included a lot of oral history from lots of different people involved with different aspects of the home, but I guess it will have to wait until next time. So overall a peaceful, factual, respectful tour for history lovers who want to leave the gimmicks behind. Highly recommend. read more

We had a great time. I want to commend the National Trust for Historic Preservation for their support of the military, firefighters, police, and EMS. Members of these organizations get free entry as opposed to the normal $14 adult entry fee. That was a wonderful surprise and is always greatly appreciated. I think even for $14, it's worth a visit. The plantation house is gorgeous and the tour was very interesting. Peggy, our tour guide, was very personable. She threw in some good humor, brought out the history of the plantation, and engaged each of the kids in the group at some point during the tour. The plantation also offers two self-guided tours--one of the river and one of the marsh area. They're scant on detail but enjoyable nonetheless. read more

Lovely tour. Not as touristy/kitschy as some of the other historical sites around the area. Knowledgeable guide and beautiful grounds.

This is my first southern plantation visit, so I was rather disappointed to find that the home was built to resemble the homes in England at the time. The home is under restoration so there are support beams in the basement, which was scary since it felt like I was walking in a restricted construction site. It gets hot inside the house, so bring something to fan yourself with. Our tour guide was good, but I started to question his knowledge when he could not tell us where the front ground door led. We later saw that the door leads into the kitchen. Further, the $20 admission fee is a little pricey for the experience. Nonetheless, the estate is a piece of history and it was nice being in a house that has been around for centuries. The grounds is beautiful and it's a short drive from downtown Charleston. read more

We enjoyed both our guided and walking tour of Drayton Hall. It is not a fully restored site, but "stabilized" and it's just incredible that in the more than 200 years of its existence, it has never been modernized. Walking through the stately mansion and on the grounds, you can really get a feel for just how opulent and grand it was, in its day. The Historical Society has done an incredible job of maintaining the structures and our guide was very informative and pleasing to listen to. I highly recommend taking the time to tour this lovely site. read more

We planned to visit a plantation house or two just because we knew it was a thing to do in Charleston. This ended up being the best historic house tour we went to while visiting the city, and although the house is just its skeleton (no furnishing), I left feeling impressed. With any historic house tour, your experience's success or failings are in the hands of your docent. Ours was friendly and handled questions well. The tour was generally engrossing and the docent's manner was a demeanor that somehow kept me from rolling my eyes at the lengthy plea for membership support that she ended with. Your mileage on that may vary. The grounds were very nice and when we were there it was very hot and humid. We did not end up going to any other plantations because we were so pleased with this experience. Although we didn't buy anything, I also liked their gift shop which had a good range of artisan/craft things, children's objects (kits, tchotkes, etc.), and local history books. It's hard to strike the right balance in a lot of places, but they did it really well. As for the price, yes, it is expensive, but all the plantations were, and upkeep of these sorts of places is usually more than admission ever covers. Most hotels and visitor pamphlet cases have coupons for $1 or $2 off, so snag some of those before you go to save a bit of cash. read more

I was wowed my the views and historic features... 3 stars because I guess I was looking for more history on slavery and what that looked like... I did do the "connections" talk but I thought it definitely could have been longer. The house tour was ok... Almost boring after a few rooms... I thought it would have been neat if they could have re done one room with furniture and paintings to show what it would have looked like... read more

So here's your itinerary for your day of plantation tours: Drayton Hall, Magnolia Plantation, and Middleton Place (plus their gardens), out on Ashley River Road. They're all interesting in their own right; the difference is that Drayton Hall is unfurnished. It's not trying to be "living history"... yet you still get a powerful sense of the people who lived there. A beautiful example of Georgian architecture. read more

Over 250 years of History!! My wife and I were pleasantly surprised, since visiting a preserved plantation was the experience we were searching for, as opposed to a restoration. We were able to see the transformation from it's origins in 1738 up until today, and were amazed that it was in such good condition. The historical information provided during the tour was enlightening and not something one might gain through classrooms. The guides were very informative and easy to interact with. read more

It was interesting to see something that has not been restored but is still in viewing condition. Good tour, full of the history of the house. It poured the day we were there so we didn't view anything outside, but did see some gators in the ponds. I would also like to see some of the other plantations to have something to compare Drayton to. read more

This plantation dates back to 1740 and much older than I imagined. They did a great job preserving this building. It is not decorated but still very interesting architecture. read more

This home affords a rare opportunity to closely examine a preserved - rather than restored - Southern plantation home from the 17th century. Those seeking a "Gone With the Wind" romantic setting resplendent with satin, tapestries, and priceless furnishings should continue on to the beauty of Magnolia Plantation. This is a very different experience, but truly memorable. read more

Certainly not the place to go if you are looking for Southern Belles in hoop skirts. However, if you are looking to see the best in style and architectural design of the day...Drayton Hall is your place. This is a preserved landmark, not renovated. It is what it is, and every so often they find something else that adds to the charm of this magnificent estate. Magnolia and Middleton will give you a Disneyland experience, but Drayton is the real deal. If you only have time to see one plantation in Charleston, I highly recommend Drayton. read more