Flat Rock’s Brookland estate
By Missy Craver Izard
Lying within the city limits of Hendersonville, North Carolina is Brookland, one of Flat Rock’s earliest summer retreats. According to Buncombe County records, a rice planter from Hampton Plantation on the South Santee River between Georgetown and Charleston named Frederick Rutledge bought from Samuel McCarson on October 29, 1829, 277 acres in the Flat Rock settlement that later constituted the estate of Brookland. Seeking a summer retreat, Rutledge and his brother-in-law Daniel Blake traveled to the wilderness of Western North Carolina with the idea of promoting Flat Rock as a summer resort for South Carolina’s aristocracy. Charles Baring, Judge Mitchell King and Frederick Rutledge were the first Charlestonians to purchase land in Flat Rock.
Frederick Rutledge studied medicine at The University of Dublin and later married his cousin, Henrietta Middleton Rutledge, with whom he had six children. At Brookland, he constructed a small frame house (now encompassed in the guest house adjacent to the main house). Rutledge was so distraught when his young wife died that he spent successive summers with his Blake relatives at the Meadows in nearby Fletcher and never remarried. In 1835, he sold Brookland to Scottish-Charlestonian architect Charles Edmundston, who designed the Greek Revival-style of Brookland.
Debby and Eugene Staton bought Brookland in 1977, with 10 acres of what was once a 2,000-acre estate. From the beginning, the couple devoted their time to restoring Brookland to its original construction as well as conducting ongoing genealogical research of the home’s previous owners. Given their passion for local history and the estate’s preservation, they also collected memorabilia and furniture associated with the historic property, including the original deeds and key to the house.
Among the caretakers for Brookland was Gene Staton’s great grandfather, John F. McGraw. His grandmother, Jannie Lee Gurley, was raised on the property in the 1920s and 1930s and his parents were living on the Brookland estate when their son was born. “Granny walked down the driveway and set out on the present-day Spartanburg Highway to school in East Flat Rock,” recalls Debby Staton. “From the time we purchased Brookland, Gene and I felt that we were now its caretakers. For this reason, we worked endlessly to have Brookland placed on The National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and designated as a local Historic Landmark in 2014. We also collaborated with Historic Flat Rock, Inc. to place a preservation agreement on the house and what remains of one of Flat Rock’s earliest estates and the only one now located within the current city limits of Hendersonville. We wanted to make sure the remaining acres would never be developed,” she continues.
In their drawing room, the Statons display portraits of Brookland’s antecedent summer residents. The first is of Frederick Rutledge who built the small frame house in 1829 (believed to be within the present-day guesthouse) followed by Charles and Mary Edmonston, the couple who built the large house in 1836. Emundston insisted that the house be built of local virgin lumber processed at the Oleetah falls sawmill near the Little Hungry River and hauled daily to the house by ox cart. The house is a two story with double pile building of frame construction with a one-story, one bay late 19th century extension on the east elevation. While work was being done on the house in 1892, a board bearing the inscription, “Charles Edmunston, architect 1836” was uncovered.
In 1841, Edmonston sold the property to the British consul of Savannah, Edmund Molyneux and his wife, Eliza Herriott Johnston, for $5,000. Molyneux renovated the house, installing an English garden and working as an amateur farmer. He and his wife spent the “sickly season” of about six months from May to October there until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was forced to return to England. Molyneux died in 1864 in Europe and Brookland was abandoned.
Brookland’s fourth owners were Major Theodore G. Barker and his wife, Louisa King, a daughter of Judge Mitchell King (one of the founders of Flat Rock). Charleston attorney and Confederate veteran Maj. Barker purchased the house and 400 acres in 1882 and acquired additional acreage through acquisition and inheritance; becoming the largest landowner in the county. At the time he bought Brookland, it had been seriously neglected and extensive work was needed to most of the land and the house. Barker made numerous changes to the house, including the various Colonial Revival embellishments and application of pebbledash to the exterior walls. He was also the first in the county to have running water, which he achieved by raising the roof and installing a cistern in the attic. Barker constructed the first dairy farm in the county and imported Devon cattle, improving both the milk and meat production of local stock. He gave a generous right of way to the railroad for expanding the line into Hendersonville with a flag station built near the intersection of Brookland’s main drive and the railroad tracks. Guests at Brookland were dropped off at the front door making the house an unofficial passenger depot. Barker named the entire estate Brookland Manor.
Upon his death in 1917, Barker left Brookland to his wife, Louisa P. Barker. According to Major Barker’s will, executors were allowed to sell off all or part of the estate as needed, which is what happened. On November 1, 1918, approximately 161 acres, including the house were sold to Julia Ball Ficken and her husband Henry Horlbeck Ficken of Charleston. In addition to the 161 acres, the Fickens acquired adjoining farmland and continued a small farming operation. The Fickens changed the name of the house from Brookland Manor to Brookland House. The name was later shortened to Brookland. During the Ficken’s ownership, Gene Staton’s grandfather served as the caretaker. His grandmother’s butter was a favorite of Mr. Ficken’s and she made butter every week to send on the train from Brookland to Charleston for him. Heirs of the Fickens sold the property in 1869 with a portion becoming Brookland Manor, a subdivision surrounding Brookland on all sides.
In 1968, the property (now consisting of ten acres) was sold to J. Marion Ross, MD and his wife, Ann B. Ross, the author of the Miss Julia series of books. They were the first year-round residents of Brookland and “Williamsburged” the house, using heavy draperies and wall to wall carpet for warmth. “It was not the feeling of a Flat Rock summer house,” Debby Staton remarks.
When the Statons purchased the house, they resolved to restore it to its original mien. “One of the first things we wanted to do was to clean the carpet until we could remove it,” recalls Debby. “We moved the second-floor bedroom mattresses to the dining room on the first floor for the two of us and our three children to sleep while the upstairs carpets were cleaned. The next morning, the children awakened covered in flea bites. We called Southern Agriculture to help us rid the house of fleas. It wasn’t long before we started to pull up all the carpets. Gene and I did it ourselves — one nail at a time. As we exposed the original flooring, it made me think of all the people who had walked the floors of this house. The kitchen restoration included removing the old paneling on the walls. There was a fire in the kitchen in the 1920s. When we took the paneling off, the boards and beams were charred.” The Statons removed the pebbledash on the exterior of the main house and guest house to bring back the original siding of these buildings. The deteriorated roof was replaced with Duraslate and the aluminum gutters were replaced with copper ones.
Judge Mitchel King was the largest landowner within Henderson County’s boundaries when they were drawn in 1838. As there was neither a town nor county seat, he donated 50 acres to be used for a town site, and Hendersonville was born. Flat Rock originally had no boundaries until it was incorporated as a city in 1995; Brookland and the surrounding neighborhood were in “no man’s land” before the city of Hendersonville annexed the subdivision in 1994.
The Statons have created a grand home and showplace that some may call a museum — a historic gem deeply within a heavily wooded 10-acre oasis where inside the wooded cloister, the surrounding neighborhood of 1950s vintage homes disappears.
Silver Tea at Brookland, September 24
On September 24, The Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock (LAS) will hold its annual Silver Tea at Brookland; a rare and unique opportunity to see this beautiful home and to contribute to the society’s philanthropic endeavors. Founded in 1880 by a group of public-spirited women, the Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock is one of the oldest if not the oldest philanthropic organization in Western North Carolina. Established by 13 prominent Charleston residents who spent their summers in Flat Rock, the group met at Ravenswood, the home of Mrs. John Grimké Drayton and formed the society for the purpose of helping people in need. Now,144 years later, their vision and mission is still being carried on by another generation of compassionate women working to make life easier for the less fortunate in Henderson County.
The Ladies Aid Society was originally established to provide care and support for local families who served as caretakers, gardeners and household staff for Flat Rock’s summer estates. The members of the society were concerned about the health and safety of those families who lived year-round in Henderson County. Pooling their resources, the ladies provided needy families with food, clothing, firewood and other supplies necessary to their wellbeing during the hard winter months in the mountains of North Carolina. It also covered medical bills and purchases at local grocery stores for the elderly, frail and families hit by disaster.
Operating under the ministry banner of St. John in the Wilderness, the members held teas, bazaars, bridge parties and other events to fund their charitable giving; for many years the society staffed a medical loan closet at St. John, making needed medical items available free of charge. From 1980 to 2016, the society operated the Flat Rock Book Exchange on the bottom floor of the Old Post Office on Greenville Highway. It closed when Historic Flat Rock created a museum of local history.
By 2004, the Ladies Aid Society expanded to include members of many different denominations, and it was determined that the society would be better served as a stand-alone 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The focus of the LAS has always been to support smaller local charities making a difference in Henderson County. The group accepts applications from community organizations and votes annually on recipients of grants. Last year some of those charities that benefited from LAS grants included the Children & Family Resource Center and the Hendersonville Rescue Mission.
To learn more about the Ladies Aid Society of Flat Rock, visit their website at www.ladiesaidsociety.org or reach out via email at lasfr1880@gmail.com. For those interested in attending the Silver Tea at Brookland, please RSVP to lasfr1880@gmail.com by Tuesday, September 17. — MCI
Missy Craver Izard was born and raised in Charleston, S.C. and resides in Flat Rock, N.C. A retired Summer Camp Director and art teacher, Missy is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, journalist, community leader, and the recipient of several awards including the White House Champions of Change.
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