A 1,851-acre Beaufort County property used by Gen. Robert E. Lee during the Civil War has changed hands for $9 million for the first time since the late 1930s.
Old Combahee Plantation in Yemassee was established in 1754, though it’s been used more recently as an outdoor recreational retreat.
Old Combahee Plantation in Yemassee sold in March for $9 million.
The buyer was Olde Combahee LLC, which listed a Orangeburg address, according to public land records. The sellers were Loring Enterprises and the Loring Trust, which are affiliated with the family who had owned the property for five generations.
Located in the ACE Basin and protected by a restrictive easement with the Nature Conservancy, Old Combahee originally was used for indigo and rice productions and remnants of an old mill and slave dwellings still stand along the Combahee River. So do two earthen forts and cannon emplacement designed by Lee and his troops.
The property, a scene of serenity now, also played a role in the American Revolution and the Yemasee Indian War in 1715.
It was in 1938 that businessman C. Leigh Stevens bought the Lowcountry site, along with four contiguous parcels. He hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design the combined properties, which he called Auldbrass, according to Plantation Services, which brokered the sale
Upon his death in 1962, daughter Jessica Stevens Loring of Napa, Calif., took ownership. In 1979, she sold off a portion still known as Auldbrass, which she had put on the National Register of Historic Places, and kept Old Combahee. Loring died in 2006.
Today, the property is managed for its timber and wildlife resources, as well as hunting, fishing and other recreational pursuits. It was first listed for $11 million about year ago.
“This is one of those rare properties that doesn’t change hands often,” said Chip Hall of Plantation Services. “It’s a beautiful place. It’s pristine and since it’s under a conservation easement it will be protected.”
Coming to Cainhoy
Development keeps moving forward in the once-rural Cainhoy area of Berkeley County.
A land planning firm representing a developer recently submitted plans for 384 multifamily units and a clubhouse at 1260 Clements Ferry Road. The potential 21.9-acre would also include 20,000 square feet of retail space. Separately, an engineering firm has filed plans for a 9,365-square-foot office building and warehouse at 2024 Wambaw Creek Road.
Both projects are in the review stage with the city of Charleston.
Summerville rentals
The firm behind Goose Creek’s destination district are planning a 108-unit apartment complex in the Oakbrook section of Summerville. JJR Development presented plans late last month for the roughly 6-acre parcel off Cross Creek Road near Trolley Road.
The complex would include 2- and 3-bedroom rental units spread across six buildings, a 5,280 square-foot streetfront commercial structure and nature trails and wetlands preservation. A pavilion area also is being considered.
