Legendary House, Though Not Historic, Will Be Missed

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The large white house located on Clemson Boulevard just past I-85 Exit 19, the source of stories and even legends, is coming down.

And while it predates the interstate, it is no historic landmark. The part southern ante-bellum and part early 20th Century neoclassical house was built in 1948. 

Some older Andersoninas might still remember it as a place of lavish grounds and furnishings as well as the site of extravagant parties held by the grand woman who had the place built, Sally Abney Fulp Rose, daughter of the founder of Abney Mills, John Pope Abney, who was amon the titans of the textile industry in 1920s with 14 mills with almost 3,000 employees in Anderson County.

Walter Guest of Anderson constructed the home, and Willis Irvin of Washington, Ga,, was the architect. Irvin was widely known for his lavish take on lowcountry homes with what he called “characteristics of the old South.” The grounds also included a swimming pool.

Sally loved gardening and arranging flowers, especially roses, and kept a greenhouse on the well-manicured property. She was also a collector of fine things, including furniture, art, glass and ceramics. 

She was a collector of furniture, firearms, art, glass, dolls and ceramics. These collections were widely regarded as some of the finest in the Upstate.

A National Accredited Flower Judge, Sally was an avid bridge player and founder of Our Garden Club in Anderson. She received honorary degrees from Lander University and Converse College, where she also served on the Board of Trustees, a board member of the Abney Foundation and was a founding member of the Debutante Club of Anderson. She was an honorary chairman of the Anderson County Arts Council and was a member of Grace Episcopal Church.

She was married for 43 years to Bennett Smedes Rose, a textile executive and founder of Bennett Rose Co., who died in 2003 at age age 93.,

Rumors, including the one which claimed Elvis Pressley either visited or sought to buy the house are urban legends, with no documented evidence.

For those who never saw the house, she commissioned, and had a hands-on role, in the creation of a miniature version of the structure, fully and accurately furnished for the Anderson County Museum in 1978. 

The miniature house remains on display at the museum, and offers the best recollections of what the house might have looked like in its prime.

Sally Abney Rose died at age 88 in 2005, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Her collections were auctioned off in 2007, where they brought $4.6 million from bidders across the United States.The leading itemwas a William Scarborough original portrait of John C. Calhoun which dated to 1847 and sold for $333,500.

In the years since her death, the house has fallen into serious disrepair. Today, the formerly well-groomed property, once full of old hardwoods and flowers has been cleared to the dirt for a development which will include housing and retail space. The house, stripped of doors and anything else that could be stolen, is full of graffiti and debris and is scheduled to be demolished.