Laurelwood Plantation in Richland County will once more live and breathe. The plantation was built in 1830 by James H. Seay. He named his new home Sandhills. It was handed down to his descendants until 1908 when Jasper Hampton Campbell bought the old home and renamed it Laurelwood. Jasper made the purchase after his plantation Leesburg burned. Three Campbell sisters lived the balance of their lives on this property. After decades of deterioraton the old home will finally strut once more in the form that was meant for her. The Palmetto Trust Assn. purchased the property and immediately sought a buyer who would restore the home as near original as possible. A couple from England made the purchase and are excited about restoring the grand old lady.
The State Historic Preservation Office has described the old place as follows:
Laurelwood is significant architecturally as one of the few remaining antebellum plantation houses in lower Richland County. Built in the Greek Revival mode with a two-story, pedimented portico featuring paneled piers, this house is said to have been constructed ca. 1830 by James H. Seay, cotton, corn and rice planter. In 1850, Seay owned 2,500 acres with 600 improved acres; however, by 1860 he had apparently divested himself of all but about 425 improved acres. A small portion of Seay’s acreage went to the Congaree Baptist Church, which constructed a church known as Good Hope, on the property near Laurelwood. The two-story frame building has a typical central-hall, double-pile plan, with interior chimneys. The façade features a two-tier, pedimented porch spanning the three central bays. The porch has paneled piers and a simple balustrade. The rear elevation originally had a two-story porch similar to the façade porch. This was removed in the twentieth century, and a one-story, frame addition built in its place. Most of the original woodwork is intact in the house. Two historic outbuildings are located on the property. A frame smokehouse is to the southeast of the house and a frame barn is to the northeast. Listed in the National Register March 27, 1986."
Most of this information came from Myra Campbell Phillips blog, The Legacy of Laurelwood.
http://thelegacyoflaurelwood.blogspot.com/2011/04/laurelwood-plantation-family-gathering.html
JJH/4/20/2011
