Rice Hope was established as a rice plantation in 1696 by the Huguenot, Daniel Huger, then known as Luckins. This Charleston plantation prospered along the tidal banks of the Cooper River when rice was king in South Carolina. The original house burned and was rebuilt in 1840. The present sprawling 40 room mansion is the result of renovations and additions made in 1929 by U.S. Senator John S. Frelinghugsen of New Jersey who used the property as a hunting lodge.

The formal gardens (est. 1795) were restored and enhanced in the 1930s according to a design by noted landscape architect Loutrell Briggs. Under the canopy of ancient moss-draped live oaks, overlooking the Cooper River, amidst camellias 200 years old, time seems to stand still at Rice Hope. We are located near other pre-Revolutionary plantations, chapels and ruins, national forest, a monastery, state and county parks, and 40 miles from historic Charleston, and the Atlantic beaches.