Middleburg Plantation for Sale

If you've always dreamed of owning a piece of history, now's your chance! Well, if you've always dreamed of owning a piece of history, have at least a million dollars to spare and don't mind living in a fairly remote area of Berkeley County . . . This is definitely somebody's lifelong dream house, and I sure hope the right somebody ends up with it!

"If the median price of a Lowcountry home is $211,000, what is the price of Middleburg Plantation, a late 17th-century home surrounded by 326 pristine acres along the Cooper River? For now, it’s priceless.

John McAllister, a Columbia-based real estate consultant who is marketing the property, said the owners of Middleburg are accepting sealed bids to be opened at 11 a.m. Oct. 30. They can either accept a bid at that time, or they can opt to hold a live auction on the property one week later. 'We don’t know its true value,' McAllister said. 'That’s why we’re doing a sealed bid, convertible auction. There are several ways to assess value of a property and one is the comparable price method and there are not any comparables for a 1697 plantation house.'

The Berkeley County tax assessor’s office currently values the property at more than $1.1 million. McAllister said Middleburg is the oldest house south of Virginia and one of the few homes from its time that escaped burning during both the Revolutionary and Civil wars.

The property includes the ruins of a steam rice mill that had made it a center of commerce until the 1920s. The next buyer will also get a few unique amenities: a slave cemetery, the remains of a wine storage room in what is now an upstairs bathroom, and original glass window panes etched with names and dates from the past."

For the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/current/13_21/news/10547-1.html

For the auction listing with photos and video of the property: http://www.jltodd.com/oct3007/oct3007.htm