Life

Historic homes open for Flat Rock tour

Appe Acres, 1848

By Bill Moss, Published: July 7, 2014

FLAT ROCK — Six years since it last hosted a home tour, Historic Flat Rock is offering a look inside four private homes and the historic St. John in the Wilderness church and cemetery on Saturday, July 12.

Open for the tour are the Dunroy Estate and garden (c1862), McCullough Cottage (c1837), Apple Acres (c1848) and the Hopewood Estate and formal gardens (c1878-1938). Also featured is the Church of St. John in the Wilderness and its churchyard (c1833), a must for history buffs.
At Hopewood, tourgoers will enjoy a special event celebrating the estates' owners in the 1950s. Visitors will "meet" the stars of the late '50s and '60s, an era of dynamic social change and innovation.
Flat Rock takes its name from the huge flat rock covering the center of the village. By the early 1800s, the Low Country elite was searching for a rail route from the seacoast to the inland waterway, as well as an escape from summer heat. It was the plantation era, and summer heat on Low Country plantations meant the threat of malaria. Within a 20-year period, Flat Rock turned into the Newport of the south, attracting families from Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans.
So many came from Charleston that Flat Rock became known as the Little Charleston of the Mountains, a moniker it retains to this day. Large and lavish summer houses were built at the end of long, winding, tree-lined drives, mostly out of view and separated by vast acreage from neighbors. This style provided complete privacy then, but now it makes it difficult or impossible for visitors or passersby to enjoy the sites of Flat Rock's lovely 19th century houses.
Organizers encourage all to take advantage of the free carpooling lot behind the Flat Rock Village Hall. Although there is parking at the homes, carpooling will make it much more pleasant for all. Proceeds to the Historic Flat Rock's efforts to preserve historic sites in Flat Rock

Historic Flat Rock's Historic Home Tour

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 12
A drive-yourself tour featuring four private homes and Church of St. John in the Wilderness (carpooling is encouraged).
Tickets: $25 in advance and $30 at each house on the day of the tour. Available at Henderson County Travel & Tourism in Hendersonville and the Wrinkled Egg and the Book Exchange in Flat Rock. Credit card purchase available through the Historic Flat Rock Inc. web site www.historicflatrockinc.org. Tour brochures with in-depth histories provided at the first home you visit.
Information: Galen Reuther 698-9380 or Carol Andrews 697-0208.