Medway Plantation, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 16th 2011 at 1:01PM

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Medway Plantation dates back to 1686 and its main house is the oldest masonry structure in South Carolina. The home was rebuilt in 1704, added on to in1855, and completely renovated in 1929. What you are paying for with this house is approximately 6,728 acres of lakes, woods, and trails. The property is surrounded by land that is protected by easements for traditional land uses.

The main house has a living room with 10-foot ceilings, heart-pine flooring, and wainscoting. The dining room has cypress-paneled walls and the commercial-grade kitchen includes a pantry. There are a total of six bedrooms including a master suite with a fireplace. The property has four guest houses, three staff houses, indoor and outdoor pools, a boat landing, a lakefront lodge, a 12-stall horse stable, a greenhouse, a double avenue of oaks, and traditional formal gardens. The listing pictures hint at the scope of this huge property. A video tour is after the jump. It is listed with William Means for $19 million.

Gallery: Medway Plantation

UPDATE: Thanks to Eric for pointing out that this home is located in Goose Creek, South Carolina!

Tags: estate of the day, medway plantation, south carolina real estate

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Eric Feb 16th 2011 1:10PM

Diedre: Just wanted to let you and your readers know this property is located in Goose Creek, SC.

Spectacular Bid Feb 16th 2011 2:17PM

And back in 2005 this was an EOTD for $25 million and has been off and on for years since. With that much property, historical significance, conservation easements, etc it will take a very unique buyer.

http://www.luxist.com/2005/01/10/medway-plantation/

In regards to the ownership: among the notable owners included one of Carolina's first Governors, Landgrave Thomas Smith II. However none have left as enduring a legacy as the late Gertrude Legendre did. She purchased the estate with her husband Sidney [d. 1948] in 1929.

Gertrude was a socialite, big–game hunter, and the first American woman to be captured in France during World War II and was a POW for six months then escaped. She was in France working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency. Following WWII she established the Medway Plan to provide medical help to countries devastated by the war.

(Her brother was the very accomplished polo player Stephen ("Laddie") Sanford. You can still see his stud farm just on the edge of Saratoga Springs, NY not far from where he, Gertrude, and another sister were raised in the manufacturing town of Amsterdam NY. Their father owned the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Co. in Amsterdam - one of the nations largest rug maker.)

It was Legendre who brought about a renaissance in plantation life, starting with a complete renovation of the main house in 1929. In 1991 she succeeded in placing permanent conservation easements on the plantation. Gertrude Sanford Legendre passed away in March 2000.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E0D9123BF930A25750C0A9669C8B63

deidrewoollard09 Feb 16th 2011 3:14PM

I can't believe I didn't remember that we'd checked out this one before! Thanks for the update and the look into the history, it really is a special place.

Lynn Feb 16th 2011 9:17PM

What a beautiful property! And the narrative by Miss Legendre is wonderful and so very informative. It is to be hoped that the property is purchased by someone who will maintain the property as it is, and respect and nurture the Legendres' legacy.

(And thanks, Deidre and Eric, for the additional information.)

usvr Feb 17th 2011 12:18AM

I would hate to spend my last 19 mil, and then have to do the cleaning myself...

neonrat Feb 17th 2011 1:15AM

THink of all the condo they could built, and mini mall, oh and car dealers that sell SUV's that just seem to sit there...

jetfalconer Feb 17th 2011 1:32AM

Does anyone know who the current owner is? I fly private jets for a living and used to occasionally fly a hedge fund exec from Connecticut who owned an estate of commonwealth sized proportions also in this part of South Carolina. Even with thr vast tracts of forests and glades there, I cant imagine there coukd be many other mega plantation owners. Hedge Fund operator is named Chilton. Anyone know if it's same guy?

tacosmuggla Feb 19th 2011 12:05AM

the owner is Bokara Legendre, she is the daughter of Gertrude and Sidney Legendre the former owners since 1929.. She does not live there full time I know she splits her time between NYC, Mill Valley, CA and Medway.

dnchandler23 Feb 17th 2011 4:03AM

All I can say is GOD let me win the lottery because it would be a dream to own and care for this beautiful place to keep it has the owners did, they did a wonderful
thing in keeping this place in the conditionit is; lovely.

smithdeane Feb 17th 2011 4:39AM

so how much does the property bring in as I would judge 25 x the income of the "business" to be the real value of the farm ( plantation in south) . I guess thats 6000 unused acers ? Pretty but I think only suited to the likes of Bill Gates . I bet its still for sale next year .

rael216 Feb 17th 2011 5:40AM

I can act like like a slave owner and live on an actual Plantation with slave quarters and everything for only 6 million, awesome , I'll take it. My mother was born and raised in Ireland and cam to America in the mid 1950's, half of my Fathers family came here from Germany after World War One,but it doesn't matter, as an American working man I was forced to pay for this crap through affirmative action, even though no member of my family tree was in this Country or England who actually brought the slaves to this Nation, but it has cost me promotions because I was white,by guy's that couldn't manage a passing grade on a test while I scored in the high 90's, they got the job but as Bush the first said, "Quotas don't exists". I paid for it because it was an idea thought up by thr rich white scum in Washington so the people that actually did benefit from hundreds of years of slavery would walk away scott free and not pay in any way, shape,or form. Brought to you by the same scum that are now responsible for one percent of the population owning 99% of OUR Nation's wealth. Still believe we live in the land of the free? Yeah, tell yourself the next time you go to the polls and vote for the same idiot you keep sending back to Washington over and over and over, and then you wonder why America is gong down the drain so fast.

JLS Feb 19th 2011 12:16AM

I am caucasian as well. That said, I believe skills and good work ethics are the key in securing work, not imagining it was something it isn't.

Blaming the US gov't for everything is not the answer. As you said, vote. Whatever we decide as a majority will be what we follow.

JLS Feb 19th 2011 12:18AM

There are many things in life I would enjoy being. A slave owner or a slave owner in a plantation is NOT one of them.

Equal rights for all. That floats my boat big time.

tacosmuggla Mar 2nd 2011 11:17AM

slavery most definitely was a terrible thing, however, it is over.. Plantations should not be discredited because of their sordid past, I am the furthest from being racist and I would own this beautiful property in a heart beat. In fact, I have visited it several times and know for a fact that even though slaves were present, which is wrong, they did go above and beyond your average plantation owner and actually created a school for the children so they could actually learn to read, write and not to fully rub them on any education.. there are no slave cabins present on this property but there are homes of their descendants who actually went to continue living on the property up until maybe thirty to forty years ago. America is the land of the free, as long as you work hard and have a clear conscience everything will be fine. Playing the victim card through our government is a little played out, like a previous post mentioned you have just as much power to vote as everyone else.. exercise your right to vote and actually put someone in office you think will get the job done effectively.