NEW – History
Historical significance of Rose Hill
Established 1898
History of Rose Hill
Rose Hill is a beautifully restored Winter Colony Estate in Aiken, South Carolina. The estate has a rich history from the founding family, the Phelps, to each owner following, in art, history, music, horticulture, cultural events, Southern hospitality and more. Rose Hill is the home of creating and nourishing organizations that have left a rich legacy in the City of Aiken, such as, the Girl Scouts of America’s Aiken Chapter, the Garden Club of Aiken, Garden Club of South Carolina, and the Aiken Center for the Arts and more. Over a century of determination, passion for natural beauty, giving, and accomplishment woven with a sensibility of reserve and elegant understatement provide a glimpse of timeless beauty and wondrous charm that is Rose Hill Estate.

The property on which Rose Hill now stands was originally owned by Confederate soldier Alfred Holmes and the original Antebellum home destroyed during the Civil War in the Battle of Aiken. Nearly thirty years after the end of the Civil War, the property and temperate climate caught the attention of the Phelps Family from the Northeast United States as the site for their winter home and Rose Hill was born.
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In 1898
In 1898, Colonel & Mrs. Sheffield Phelps commissioned the construction of their city block winter home (four houses and eight outbuildings) atop the high point of Downtown Aiken. The Dutch Colonial Shingle Style architecture of The Main House (nearly 10,000 sq. ft.) is a unique find in the Southeast and was built over the remnants of the original Antebellum home. This home, named Rose Hill, later became the first property in Aiken to be listed on The National Register of Historic Places. The Phelps family resided at Rose Hill during the Winter Months with their three young children. After the early death of Colonel Phelps, Mrs. Phelps made Rose Hill the permanent residence for herself and her children. Mrs. Phelps never remarried and became an avid gardener. In 1930, she organized and hosted the first meeting of the Garden Club of South Carolina at Rose Hill. Mrs. Phelps and her daughter, Claudia Lea, found a particular love for camellias and even developed a new variety on the Estate, the "Rose Hill Red." Her daughter, Claudia Lea, fell in love with the easy and natural life of the region and made Rose Hill & Aiken her permanent home until her death in 1984. Claudia Lea founded the first Girl Scouts of America troop in Aiken with her friend, Juliette Gordon-Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America.





Miss Claudia Lea
Miss Claudia Lea was well-renown as a lover and sponsor of the West Highland White Terrier. She loved to train and compete with her dogs and served as the president of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America in its early years. Miss Phelps housed her prized dogs at The Rosstor Kennel, which had three locations, one of which sat on Rose Hill Estate. The Estate still boasts three original kennels which still have the outline of a dog door on the front door.







