Rose Hill Plantation Real Estate
Rose Hill Plantation Map
About Rose Hill Plantation
Rose Hill Plantation is about a ten-minute drive from Hilton Head Island. The community is one of the area’s largest at approximately 2,000 acres, and is split into two sides by Highway 278: the Country Club side, containing the golf courses, and the Estate side on the Colleton River, with the equestrian center as well as many of the larger estate homes. Though Rose Hill has an 18-hole golf course, the premium equestrian center is one of its most unique attractions. Rose Hill stands out from other plantations, because it caters to Hilton Head Island golf enthusiasts, while also offering a gracious private living environment. The community has two security gates, the North and the South.
Security Features
Rose Hill actually has two separate security gates, one for each half of the community on either side of Highway 278.
Rose Hill Plantation: History
Its namesake residence, the original Rose Hill mansion designed in 1858, sits on 12 acres within today’s Rose Hill Plantation. It is now a private home, although it was open for public tours in the past as a historic showplace. England’s King Charles II granted the land to Sir John Colleton, one of the original Lords Proprietors of Carolina, in 1718. After the death of Sir John’s daughter, Louisa, in 1828, James Kirk purchased 800 acres from the Colleton estate and created a prosperous plantation he called Rose Hill. The Gothic Revival-style house was begun in 1858 by Kirk’s daughter Caroline and her husband, Dr. John Kirk. Its construction was interrupted by the Civil War, though the family had been able to move into the partially-built house prior to the outbreak of hostilities. The Kirks decamped to Grahamville, SC for the duration and the house and its grounds were occupied by U.S. troops during the War. Caroline Kirk died in exile from her home in 1864, but Dr. Kirk and one of his sons eventually returned to the property, where Dr. Kirk died in 1868. Unable to complete the house, the Kirk heirs were able to retain the property until 1928. Over the next few years, there was a succession of owners and sharecropper tenants at Rose Hill, as the once-grand mansion deteriorated. In 1946, Betsy and John Sturgeon purchased the property and restored it, turning what was no longer a working plantation into a private hunting preserve. The house was finally completed and elegantly furnished. After Mrs. Sturgeon’s death in 1966, John Sturgeon remarried and lived at Rose Hill until his death in 1978. In 1981, the estate was purchased by the Rose Hill Plantation Development Company, master-planned as a gated community with golf and equestrian amenities, with the Rose Hill mansion as its community centerpiece. Under the supervision of Mrs. Iva Walton, the house was renovated, added to the National Historic Register of Historic Places, and opened to the public for tours and social events. A catastrophic fire in 1987 nearly destroyed the mansion, and only its exterior was repaired until the house and the 12.5 acres on which is stands were purchased by the Middleton White Foundation in 1996. The house has now been fully rebuilt as a personal residence for Mr. and Mrs. Robert White, who host tours, weddings and other social events by special arrangement. The Rose Hill Golf Club was sold to Mesa Golf Incorporated in early 2002, but the next owners (PBBM Rose Hill Limited Partnership) filed for bankruptcy in 2006. The golf course and club have now been reopened after a 2008 restoration.
