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Estate of Art

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Esther and Jim Ferguson’s historic home hosts their collection of masterpieces

Built in 1837, the 2,500-square-foot Greek Revival residence stood among summer cottages on property that became known as Secessionville in the months leading up to the Civil War.

Centuries-old oaks frame the approach to the house. “Oftentimes when I am coming into the yard, I just stand and look at those trees,” says Jim. “I think they are probably the most thrilling of the house’s assets.”

Museum-worthy artworks are on display throughout the Ferguson home, but the parlor is especially awe-inspiring. In this vignette, Picasso’s Femme dans un fauteuil (1956) takes center stage, with Fernand Léger’s Nature morte au livre (1949) on the far left and three collage works (1977-1979) by American artist Louise Nevelson on the right.

Esther and Jim Ferguson sit with their Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Kyndel and Cooper, in the parlor, where an untitled landscape (1977) by Willem de Kooning presides above the mantel. Esther selected the hue for the room “so that when you come in, the art jumps off the walls.”

A bronze bust, titled Tête de femme, by Paul Gauguin resides in the parlor.

Another vignette offers three works by Edmund Marion Ashe, a former White House artist-correspondent, teacher, and painter who retired to Charleston in 1939.

Robert Natkin’s abstract acrylic Hitchcock Series: Escape with Wig (1983) hangs in the dining room.

The main floor guest room, appointed with classic and antique furnishings, takes full advantage of natural light from its south-facing windows.

A collection of baskets from travels to Botswana creates an interesting décor element in an upstairs guest bath.

A walk down the main hallway offers a glimpse into the home’s past. Esther had the “graffiti” (written on the walls by Civil War soldiers) framed and complemented it with a National Archives photograph of the property during its time as a freedmen’s village and paintings by Reconstruction-era artist William Aiken Walker.

The couple commissioned artist Claude Buckley, nephew of William F. Buckley Jr., to paint the trompe l’oeil mural in an upstairs bedroom. The scene depicts the ACE Basin’s Cheeha-Combahee Plantation, of which the Fergusons were partners

The bronze Bust of Victor Hugo by Auguste Rodin meets visitors in the foyer. “It’s grand to be able to touch him,” says Esther. “You can’t exactly do that in a museum!” The painting above the entry hall door depicts Secessionville Manor, including the Fergusons and their grandchildren. It’s among 13 works by Claude Buckley.

A walk down the main hallway offers a glimpse into the home’s past. Esther had the “graffiti” (written on the walls by Civil War soldiers) framed and complemented it with a National Archives photograph of the property during its time as a freedmen’s village and paintings by Reconstruction-era artist William Aiken Walker.

The Fergusons’ lives and extensive travels are documented on tabletops in framed photographs of the couple with various dignitaries, celebrities, and friends; in the foreground are the backsides of ancient Chinese, Japanese, and Korean mirrors.

Located on a lobster-claw-shaped peninsula on southeastern James Island, the property looks out across the tidal marsh flats of Clark Sound to the Morris Island Lighthouse.