Historic home tour returns to Flat Rock
If modern air conditioning had been invented a century sooner, the Henderson County village of Flat Rock would be a much different place today. Local author and historian Galen Reuther explains that Flat Rock began taking shape in the 1790s when the government issued great swaths of raw land to Revolutionary War veterans. By the early 1800s, news of the up-and-coming community spread south to Charleston, a commercial center that was “just beastly hot in the summertime,” says Reuther.
Eager to escape the heat and humidity, South Carolina industrialists shot their arrows north. They came in droves, buying up property and having stately seasonal homes built in the mountains of Flat Rock.
“Over time, they formed a wonderful village of their own,” says Reuther. “Flat Rock became ‘The Little Charleston of the Mountains’” — a designation that persisted in the brightly painted restaurants and boutiques of the burg’s main thoroughfare, nicknamed “Little Rainbow Row.”
This August, history enthusiasts can explore this rich heritage during the 2025 Historic Home Tour. Hosted by Historic Flat Rock Inc., the tour will give visitors a rare glimpse inside four of the town’s most storied residences, all of which were built in the 1800s and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Among the homes is Chanteloup, originally known as “The Castle.” Built in 1841 by the French consul to Charleston, Count Joseph Marie Gabriel St. Xavier de Choiseul, this property was designed with opulence in mind.
“It’s truly a fantastic home,” says Reuther, noting that the terraced gardens were plotted by “Father of Landscape Architecture” Frederick Law Olmsted. In the 1890s, the second owners — the Norton sisters of Kentucky — hired Richard Sharp Smith, supervising architect of the Biltmore House, to refurbish the estate. In this century, the home’s current owners have spent six years restoring the home to its former glory.
The tour will also feature Longwood. Constructed in the 1890s for Robert M.W. Black and later known as “The Black House on Black Road,” the edifice is one of few in the area covered in pebbledash stucco.
“That’s one of the interesting things about the homes in Flat Rock: There is great diversity,” says Reuther. “No two look alike.”
The Dunroy Estate, Reuther adds, “reflects the Italianate designs of architect Edward C. Jones of Charleston.” And the fourth home on the tour, Rutledge Cottage, was inspired by the architecture its first owner, Dr. Mitchell C. King, remembered from studying at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
No two have the same story, either, which was the initial driver of the first home tour in 1968. Though organizers took a seven-year hiatus starting in 2018, local residents have been eager for the return of this beloved event.
“I think everyone likes to walk into a lovely home, look around, and know its history,” says Reuther. “It’s an interesting experience.”
Historic Flat Rock, Inc. presents the 2025 Historic Home Tour on Saturday, Aug. 2, 10am-4pm. Tickets are $50 pre-purchase, $60 the day of the event. Visit historicflatrockinc.com or call 828-974-4242 for more information.