What (and where) was this in South Carolina before it went into disuse? Send your name, hometown and guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s mystery, “Lush scene,” showed an old postcard of gardens at Hopelands in Aiken. It opened as a public garden in 1970 after several decades as a wealthy family’s estate.
Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla., writes that the owner, Hope Iselin, “was a noted horse racing owner and fan known both in the U.S. and England as ‘the great lady of racing.’ She and her husband built a winter home in Aiken around 1900. She began developing her gardens at that time. She died in 1970 at the age of 102 and bequeathed the house and gardens to the City of Aiken.”
Congratulations to the few who correctly identified it: Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Don Clark of Hartsville; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman and Elizabeth Jones, both of Columbia; Pat Keadle of Perry; and Frank Bouknight of Summerville.
- Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
I received this message about Heartlands from a friend who lives in Aiken.
“They lost about 13 large trees and parts of their wavy brick wall as well as other fencing. Not sure about the buildings. It is closed of course. Nothing here will ever be the same. Hitchcock Woods is in terrible condition. They have closed it, but our beautiful forest city will never be the same.”
And “that’s the rest of the story!”