Rye Patch — Aiken, South Carolina

Built around 1900, Rye Patch in Aiken was a Winter Colony bed and breakfast that hosted Northern sportsmen, namely golfers and polo players. Seymour H. Knox II of Buffalo, New York, stayed at Rye Patch on a horse-buying trip in 1922 and later honeymooned there. Knox’s sister and brother-in-law, Edmund Rogers and Dorothy Knox Goodyear Rogers, bought the property in 1939 as a winter estate and used it to entertain such guests as the Duke of Windsor and his bride, Wallis Simpson.

Upon the death of Mrs. Rogers in 1984, Rye Patch was bequeathed to the city of Aiken by her children. It continues to be an entertainment venue, used as a popular site for weddings and events. The estate includes a Carriage Museum and Rose Garden, which receives numerous visitors in its peak month of May.

Rye Patch is listen in the National Register:

Rye Patch (corner of Berrie Road and Whiskey Road): constructed ca. 1900, but later remodeled and enlarged; two-story, frame, weather-boarded residence; hipped-roof with plain boxed cornice; fenestration is varied and includes diamond-paned sashes; asymmetrical facade (east elevation) features a single paneled door sheltered by a small pedimented porch; rear (west elevation) features a two-tiered porch with chamfered posts and two two-story polygonal projections; estate property also includes stables and paddocks, guest cottage, laundry house, garage, clay tennis courts, and a high brick wall which was constructed in 1928.

Rye Patch Map

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