20 South Battery
"Why book? Imagine having a grandiose historic house museum all to yourself, and being allowed to sit on the furniture. Settle in! Set the scene: 20 South Battery looms large at the tip of Charleston’s peninsula. The five-story mansion faces the public park and the harbor beyond, so you’ve got White Point Gardens as your front yard, with night herons nesting in the branches of live oaks. You’ll be given a code to open the wrought iron front gate. Walk up the grand staircase flanked by marble lions, step into the front hall, and pinch yourself at the sight of the 2-story ballroom filled with period antiques and flooded with ambient daylight from a center sky-lit cupola. Pictures don’t do the house justice, because the scale of this place is meant to flood your peripheral vision. The backstory: Although the carriage house has functioned before as an inn, this is the first time an owner has opened the mansion itself to hotel guests. Native Charlestonian Dr. Jack Schaeffer purchased the home in 2018 and spared no expense in restoring it to its Gilded Age glory, uncovering architectural secrets along the way, like the hidden trapdoor to a 19th century wine cellar. Outside, oystershell pathways and old brick lead back to a deep formal walled garden. The rooms: It’s rare I’ve had the chance to sleep in a bed valued higher than a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan. The main house 2nd floor Lathers Suite has just that: a mahogany four-poster carved in Cuba in the early 1800s, with a plush locally-crafted mattress (thankfully not from the early 1800s). Wrap-around windows in my suite overlooked magnolia treetops and red slate roofs. My sitting room was heaven: an inlaid coffee table, bound books on shelves, black marble fireplace, and gilded mirror. Each room is unique, but all include a mix of antiques with some modern touches like smart televisions, Bluetooth alarms clocks, and an emerald-green fold-out sofa, very comfortable for a plus-one. Best of all, no 19th century bathrooms here, and no shared bathrooms either (as can sometimes be the case in old houses). The owner took great pains to create state-of-the-art private bathrooms for each room, with spacious soaking showers and gleaming white tile. Food and drink: Although the hotel does not have a restaurant, they do serve individual cheese plates and nice, dry French wine (not the sweet stuff!) daily in the ballroom, where guests get to know each other and compare notes. Breakfast is included and very good: a smattering of croissants and quiches from local bakery Brown’s Court, plus biscuits made by Carrie Morey of Callie’s Biscuits fame (iced blueberry biscuits are the bomb, plus great gluten-free buttermilk biscuits as well). You can eat in the dining room, order breakfast via room service, or better yet, take it to the back garden. There’s nothing like sipping coffee on a joggling board or beneath a trellis of blooming jasmine and spying a bird’s nest in a nearby camellia bush. The neighborhood/area: This is Position A in Charleston’s posh “South of Broad” residential district. Carriage tours and amble by, and you can wave as if you owned the place. You’ll love strolling through White Point Gardens and along the High Battery overlooking forts, dolphins, and sailboats. The service: A small but dedicated staff run the house, so you’re never alone. If the owner is in residence during your visit (when he’s not traveling) he’s more than happy to chat, to walk you through history, and to share a drink with you in rocking chairs on the veranda. For families: Children are welcome, but keep in mind that this home is full of valuable antiques (I’d hate to be the one to break a priceless mid-1700s sconce here). Accessibility: Unfortunately, given historic preservation restrictions, this house is not ADA-accessible, and if you have any ambulatory issues, you’ll want to tread carefully, which is true for Charleston in general, where tree roots play bricks like piano keys. Anything else? For a breathtaking sense of this property, check out the uninterrupted drone footage on the website’s opening page. It just takes a minute, but it’s jaw-dropping. The camera glides you from White Point Gardens towards the mansion, through the front door, circles the ballroom, then the front parlor, dining room, up the winding staircase through bedroom suites, out to the 2nd floor veranda, up to the 5th floor library, exiting the window over treetops to the harbor beyond." - Allston McCrady
