PNC Event: Flat Rock Preservation Celebration
12:00 am - 11:59 pm
Flat Rock Preservation Celebration
Tour three iconic historic properties.
Sip on summer cocktails at Many Pines, hosted by Joe and Langdon Oppermann.
Tickets $25 | Proceeds benefit Preservation North Carolina
TICKET LINK COMING SOON!
Beaumont, 1839 – Preservation in Progress
Take a respite in the NC mountains this summer to explore Flat Rock, established high in the Blue Ridge as a colony for wealthy Charlestonians and other South Carolinians to escape the summer heat. It is sometimes known as “Little Charleston of the Mountains.”
Guests will start the day with a special tour of Beaumont, where preservation is in progress after a fire damaged portions of the property. And yet, there is abundant beauty in the ashes! Local preservationists have been working to clean and protect the property while a new buyer is sought to restore the grand estate. The c.1839 mountain “cottage” boasts over 8,000 square feet. In 1910, Biltmore architect Richard Sharp Smith designed the monumental over-build that is prominent today. The site’s sprawling 4.76 acres were designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
From there, St. John in the Wilderness will open its storied doors. St. John’s, the oldest parish in the Diocese of Western North Carolina, began in 1827 when Charles Baring of England built a private summer chapel on his estate in Flat Rock to escape the low-country heat of South Carolina. After the original wooden structure burned, a handmade brick church was built in 1833 and officially deeded to the Diocese of North Carolina in 1836, forming an Episcopal parish primarily made up of affluent Charleston summer residents. To accommodate a rapidly growing congregation, the church was rebuilt and doubled in size in 1852, resulting in the historic structure that stands today. St. John’s was unusual in that white people and enslaved black people sat together in church. Its historic churchyard serves as the final resting place for notable early American figures, military leaders, and both enslaved and freed individuals. The 1853 rectory still stands today on the 23-acre church property.
We’ll end the afternoon at the stunning historic house and grounds at Many Pines, one of the most authentic of the “old Flat Rock” estates. The two-and-a-half-story frame house is a happy blend of fretwork, latticework, pointed and rounded arches, with Victorian details that delight the eye. The house is situated on a meadowed hill and is oriented to face a circular drive. A dozen outbuildings are scattered around the property, including a barn, a dairy, and slave quarters. The house was constructed in 1859 by Henry “Squire” Farmer, a well-known builder of many early buildings in Flat Rock and Hendersonville. It was commissioned by the Charlestonian merchant, James Pringle, who purchased this home and twenty-nine acres with his wife, Sarah Ladson. The property was acquired by Augustine T. Smythe in 1908, who gave the estate its name, “Many Pines.” The property remains with Smythe descendant, Langdon Edmunds Oppermann and her husband, noted preservation architect Joe Oppermann.