Add a festive glow to your holidays with these three candlelight events in Charleston.
Candlelight Family Yuletide in Middleton Place Stableyards
December 8 / 5:30-8pm / $5-$15 / 4300 Ashley River Road
Visit a live nativity scene and make nature-inspired holiday decor around warm fires at Middleton Place. The blacksmith, potter, cooper and seamstress will displaying and selling their trades in candle-lit shops. They’ll share stories what their life would have been like as enslaved artisans who also tended livestock during the 18th century at the plantation.
Most of Middleton was burned during the Civil War. Two decades later the great earthquake of 1886 destroyed the remaining walls of the main family residence. From then until the early 20th century the property was neglected. Descendants inherited the plantation and began a major restoration in 1924.
Seasonal refreshments included.
Candlelight Tour of the Edmondston-Alston House
December 14 / 5:30-7:30pm / $15 / 21 East Battery
Step back in time to a mid-19th century yuletide evening at the Edmondston-Alston House, built in 1825 by a wealthy Scottish shipping merchant. An economic downturn forced him to sell a decade later to Charles Alston, whose family made their fortune in low country rice planting.
Alston updated the Federal-style home to Greek Revival. It commands a magnificent view of Charleston’s Battery. From its piazza, General P. T. Beauregard watched the bombardment of Ft. Sumter that signaled the start of the Civil War in 1861. And on December 11th of the same year, the house gave refuge to General Robert E. Lee the night a massive fire swept through his Charleston hotel.
Despite the destruction of the Civil War, the earthquake of 1886 and numerous hurricanes, Alston family decorative furnishings and interior millwork remains. Docents will share information on the home and the Alston family, who continue to own the home. Tour includes light refreshments.
Candlelight Tours at Nathaniel Russell House
December 7, 8, 14,15, 21, 22 / 6:30 to 7:15pm and 7 to7:45pm / $25 / 51 Meeting Street
Experience the festivity of the season by flickering candlelight in a 19th-century townhome. The Nathaniel Russell House was built in 1808 by a merchant of the same name. It’s construction cost $80,000 at a time when the average home value was $262, according to the Historic Charleston Foundation.
The Foundation restored the home to its Neoclassical splendor. During the tour you’ll learn about the home’s fantastic architectural features as well as those who lived and were enslaved there.
LED candles are used for the safety. Tour ends with a glass of wine.
