Off U.S. 278, Bluffton, South Carolina. County/parish: Beaufort.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places May 19, 1983. NRIS 83002185.
1 contributing building.
Rose Hill Plantation House (sometimes Rose Hill Mansion) is an historic Carpenter Gothic house located on US 278 in Bluffton, Beaufort County, South Carolina. It was begun in 1858 for Dr. John Kirk and Caroline Kerk, his wife, but construction was interrupted by the Civil War and not resumed until after World War II when it was renovated and finished by architect Willis Irvin for John Sturgeon and Florence Sturgeon, his wife. On May 19, 1983, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It preserves the antebellum plantation home of Dr. & Mrs. John William (1803-1868) & Caroline (1815-1864) Kirk, a wealthy enslaver and physician.
According to tradition, the house was spared ordered destruction during the Civil War after a Union soldier declared "this house is too beautiful to be burned".
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/118997173