Rural Point
National Register Listing
Street Address:
Old Camden Rd., Winnsboro, SC (Fairfield County)
Alternate Name:
Robertson-Doty House
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817720035
Description and Narrative:
(Robertson-Doty House) Rural Point is noted for its architecture, garden, and hospitality. Built in 1852 by William Ross Robertson, probate judge and commissioner of equity of Fairfield County who served in South Carolina House of Representatives and as a member of the Secession Convention. This Greek Revival, one-and one-half-story house over a high basement is sheathed in white clapboard with green louvered shutters. The façade has twelve wide steps leading to a gable-roofed porch which is supported by four square columns and surrounded by a balustrade. There is a tripartite window in the gable. The foundation is of solid brick except for the porch which has brick piers with wooden lattice work between. The semi-formal garden is said to have been designed by John Grimke Drayton, noted landscape architect of Magnolia Gardens in Charleston. Garden consists of a series of boxwood and mock orange hedges surrounding two grass plots about 85 feet wide on either side of the walk. Other plantings remaining from the original garden include such rare imports as a Cedar of Lebanon, a Japanese Cedar, a Chinese Varnish tree, a tea olive, and variegated boxwoods. A typical southern planter’s office of white clapboard with green louvered shutters is on the landscaped grounds, which are enclosed by a white picket fence. Listed in the National Register February 23, 1972.
Period of Significance:
1852
Level of Significance:
State
Area of Significance:
Politics/Government;Agriculture;Landscape Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
February 23 1972
