City Directories and History: Hopewell is a plantation home in Oconee County on property belonging to Clemson University. In 1785 General Andrew Pickens was given a land grant on the banks of the Keowee River, now known as the Senecca. Pickens named his plantation Hopewell and developed a considerable operation outside of Pendleton. General Pickens was a Revolutionary war hero and hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain and member of the House of Representatives. Following the war, Pickens’ plantation was the site of the Hopewell Treaties between the Confederation Congress of the United States and three tribes; Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw which were signed under a great oak on the property. Pickens son Andrew Jr., went on to be Governor of South Carolina 1816-1819, and his son Francis was Governor at the outbreak of the Civil war 1860-1862.
The existing house is a federal era construction and consists of a five-bay façade with a full width hipped roof porch. The home is interesting because it is constructed entirely of logs which were then weather boarded over immediately. The front sill in a single log which is 52 feet in length and was hand cut to be ten inches square. The interior consists of two rooms flanking a center hall on both floors with a single-story ell projecting off the right rear façade. There is a stone basement under the left side of the house that has a fire place in it but its use is still unclear. Typical of its era the home was outfitted with wide board walls and wainscot in each room, rising butt hinges holding hand planed eight panel doors, four original closets, and federal mantels making it a home fit for a family of means like the Pickens.
Hopewell is significant not only for its association with the Pickens Family and its architectural style but also the arrangement of its site. The house at Hopewell originally had flanking dependencies (a laundry and an office) creating a five-part plan common in high style homes of the period like Middleton Place and Drayton Hall. These dependencies created a very impressive sight for visitors to the upstate in the early nineteenth century. This was enhanced using a teardrop shaped drive in front of the home which visitors would arrive at along a cedar lined road flanked by housing for the house slaves and stables. This highly planned site arrangement is significant for homes in the upstate and its ability to be recreated is a tremendous opportunity for Clemson to interpret the site. (Article researched and written for submission to R&R by preservationist, Kyle Campbell@ Preservation South – 2018)
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