This is the mansion at Boone Hall Plantation:
Boone Hall made headlines recently as it was the super secret wedding location of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. More than that, though, it has a rich brick history. Yes, brick history.
Located just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, Boone Hall was well situated on a clay deposit, which fueled its brick-making business. In 1817, Henry and John Horlbeck moved onto Boone Hall Plantation and started their brick making. Many of the bricks they made were used to build properties in downtown Charleston. Of course, the Horlbecks were hardly the ones making the bricks. Just in front of the house you will see a long row of slave cabins. By 1850, 85 slaves were making 4 million bricks per year on the property.
The brick slave cabins were unusual for the time. It is thought that these cabins housed the more “well-to-do” slaves (the ones who had “important” “jobs” such as housekeeping and cooking). Slaves who worked in the fields throughout the South were usually shacked in wood cabins.
The main house of course was built using the bricks made on the plantation grounds. The slave cabins were constructed using deformed bricks and if you take the tour of Boone Hall Plantation you will notice that some bricks bear the signature or marking of their maker.
Boone Hall Plantation not only remains a working, functional plantation, it is open yearly for tours, and for weddings if you happen to be a celebrity couple. Not only is it absolutely stunning, but the variety of programs and their knowledgeable staff do ensure that you have a complete portrait of Southern history and culture, remembering and humanizing the residents of the cabins out front.