A Step Back to the Tranquil Halcyon Inn--An Enduring Icon of Summerville's Prosperous Golden Age

Halcyon isn’t a word you hear every day. Unless you happen to be of Greek descent or have spent time studying mythology, it’s likely unfamiliar—except, perhaps, to a few longtime residents of Summerville and the observant souls who’ve glimpsed it from their car windows while driving down South Main Street.

To those older Summervillians, Halcyon stirs a memory. It was once the name of one of the grand resort inns that graced the town during its most prosperous era—the Golden Age. And if you’ve ever traveled Highway 17-A on your way to work or errands, you’ve probably passed the once-upon-a-time inn without realizing the history that lies just beyond its tall trees, black iron gates, and white columns.

No one knows exactly when the house was built. The Colleton County records—its original county—were lost when Sherman’s troops burned Columbia in 1865. The earliest surviving reference suggests the house rose sometime between 1830 and 1840, known then as Duke’s House, after its first owner, John R. Duke. It was a classic Southern home, with a broad two-story porch stretching fifty feet across and twelve feet deep, its columns greeting visitors with quiet grandeur. On that porch sat a joggling board—a piece of Charleston tradition—added by one owner who said it “completed the porch.”

Inside, the first floor opened into a thirty-three-by-twenty-foot living room with thirteen-foot ceilings, a generous dining room, two dens, and a bedroom. Upstairs were four bedrooms and a hall, along with one curious feature—a door that led to nowhere. No stairs, no landing, just empty space. Mrs. Dion, one of its owners, liked to call it “the door for invisible inhabitants.”

A 1909 plat shows Halcyon once covered eight acres, including a pear orchard. Scattered across the grounds were outbuildings, service quarters, and a gazebo. When the Weeds owned the property, they transformed these structures into guest cottages for their resort inn. One was called Magruder’s House, named for a man who had lived there as a slave until the 1930s. Another, the Pink Cottage, had once been a stable—its barn doors still intact. The octagonal gazebo, set beside a bricked-in spring, became a beloved landmark.

Unlike the Pine Forest Inn or the Carolina Inn, Halcyon wasn’t known for celebrity guests. Its fame came instead from its hospitality. Mrs. Caroline Parameter, daughter of Mrs. Weed, was celebrated for her menus—she once ran the Tea Room at Middleton Place. To Northern visitors escaping harsh winters, Halcyon was a sanctuary of calm, a place where the air was soft and the days unhurried. Many stayed from late October through April, savoring the quiet rhythm of Summerville life.

It was the autumn of 1909. The air in Summerville carried that familiar mix of pine and cool promise. A Northern visitor named Mr. Edwin Harrow stepped down from the carriage that had brought him from the train depot. He paused at the gate of Halcyon Place, taking in the sweep of the grounds—the old oaks draped in moss, the pear trees still clinging to their last fruit, and the white columns rising like quiet sentinels against the afternoon light.

He had heard of Summerville’s inns, of course. Travelers spoke of the Pine Forest Inn with its grand halls and bustling winter crowd. But it was Halcyon Place that had been recommended to him by a friend who said, “If you want peace, go there. It’s where the world slows down.” Edwin felt that truth the moment he stepped through the black iron gates.

Mrs. Weed herself greeted him on the porch; her apron dusted with flour from the afternoon’s baking. She had a way of making guests feel as though she had been expecting them for years. “You must be Mr. Harrow,” she said, offering a smile that softened the long journey behind him. “We’ve put you in the Pink Cottage. It’s quiet there. The garden keeps good company.”

As she led him along the path, Edwin noticed the outbuildings—some old, some lovingly restored—each with its own story tucked beneath the shingles. The Pink Cottage still had its barn doors, a reminder of its former life. He ran his hand along the wood, feeling the grooves worn by decades of use.

Inside, the room was simple but welcoming: a quilt folded neatly at the foot of the bed, a pitcher of cool water on the washstand, and a small vase of pear blossoms that must have been gathered that morning. Through the open window drifted the sound of the spring near the gazebo, its gentle trickle blending with the rustle of leaves.

That evening, Edwin joined the other guests for supper. Mrs. Caroline Parameter had prepared a meal that tasted like comfort itself—roasted chicken, warm bread, and a pear tart that made him close his eyes for a moment just to savor it. Conversation was easy, unhurried, as though everyone had silently agreed to leave the outside world at the gate.

Later, as he walked back to the Pink Cottage, lantern in hand, Edwin paused to look at the main house. The windows glowed softly, and the porch seemed to breathe with the warmth of the day’s last light. He felt something settle in him then—a quietness he hadn’t known he needed.

He would stay through April, returning home with stories of moss-draped oaks, gentle evenings, and a place where time moved differently. And for the rest of his life, whenever he smelled pear blossoms or heard the soft creak of old wood, he thought of Halcyon Inn—its kindness, its calm, and the way it welcomed him as though he had always belonged there.

Today, the once-upon-a-time Halcyon Inn still rests beneath its ancient oaks, serene and dignified behind its black gates. Its name, drawn from myth and memory, feels perfectly chosen—a reminder of Summerville’s own “halcyon days,” when life moved at a gentler pace and beauty was measured in shade and stillness.

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Middleton Place's Rice Mill--Once a Tea Room Managed by a Summerville Matron and the Digs for a Famous Southern Chef

Halcyon Place was the name of a Southern Style house on South Main Street owned by Mr. and Mrs. George S. Weed at this pivotal time in Summerville's history. It would become the Halcyon Inn during the town's Golden Age.

The inn was not known for accommodating famous guests like the Pine Forest and Carolina Inns, at least I am not aware of any. Framed by the property's groves of magnolias and oaks, its sprawling two-story white-columned porch was a welcoming reminder of space and calmness for its seasonal patrons. A strategically placed joggling board offered an amusing session of relaxing contemplation. If the moment was right and the sojourner willing, the inn's host would retell the endearing story of the fateful circumstances that brought the wooden apparatus to the house.

Mrs. Caroline Parameter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Weed, was well known for her delicious entrees. Mrs. Parameter also showcased her culinary expertise at the springtime Tea Room on Middleton Place for the Junior League of Charleston during the late 1920s. The Tea Room was the first of the Junior League's fundraising enterprises.

Middleton's rice mill, situated next to the butterfly lakes and the rice mill pond, underwent weighty alterations during its transformation into the "tea room." The revamped two-story building, topped with a mansard roof, offered a tranquil setting for sipping locally grown Southern tea and sharing meaningful Lowcountry conversation. In its second-floor kitchen, League volunteers prepared okra soup and made sandwiches that they served to guests seated at tables overlooking the Ashley River. The first-floor eating area, adorned by a fireplace and andirons, was outfitted with a dumbwaiter the staff used to transfer food from the kitchen.

The Tea Room remained in the Rice Mill until 1949 when it was moved to a new location and became the Middleton Place Restaurant. It was converted to a museum in 1956, featuring a spinning wheel and "Brown Bess" over the fireplace.

The Restaurant building was designed by W. Bancel LaFarge in 1933, based on research done in Barbados, and has the same roof lines as the Rice Mill. Originally used as a guest house, it had two bedrooms and a sitting room upstairs. The cypress-paneled room downstairs was a living and game room surrounded by a screened porch. The Cypress Room, now used as a private dining room, was originally a series of storerooms leading to the plantation office.

In 1985, the owners of Middleton Place persuaded Edna Lewis, one of the country's ten most influential women in the food industry and one of the founders of Cafe Nicholson on Manhattan's East Side, to join them with a goal to inspire a menu based on historical records of early Carolina plantation cooking. She took up residence in the Rice Mill and became their head chef and consultant.

Many ideas for Edna's menu came from a book called "The Carolina Housewife" published in 1847 by Sara Rutledge, a cousin of the Middletons. Although the recipes in the book are incomplete by today's standards, Lewis drew the essentials from them and developed dishes that the well-to-do Middletons might have eaten. Dishes like panned quail with julienne of country ham and spoon bread, rabbit pate, broiled oysters on the half shell with buttered crumbs, pan-fried flounder, watercress soup, grits, shrimp paste, whole strawberry preserves, chocolate souffle, and caramel layer cake.

There are two choices for seating at the restaurant, the dining room or the garden. The view from the dining room is stunning. Lined with large windows, it overlooks the old rice mill pond and picturesque Azalea Hillside. If available, the garden seating offers an intimate, quiet space with a view of the spacious field in front of the South Flanker.

Enclosed by a three-foot brick wall and draped overhead by Spanish moss, a variety of potted plants accented the space--a perfect setting for sipping on an afternoon sweet tea, or if you are feeling a little more fruity, a glass of wine.

Despite the varied menu, I kept it simple and chose the special of the day, a roast turkey sandwich topped with green fried tomatoes and field greens picked from their on-site garden partnered with a side of French fries--sublime.

The casual lunch was sufficient. I was at Middleton Place for its historic surroundings and the garden atmosphere offered by its restaurant. With the warm Charleston sun shining overhead, the setting was perfect for basking in the aura of an antique building and savoring a delicious meal under the shadowy canopy of an ancient oak tree.

In the distance, basking in the soft rays of the Lowcountry sun on the other side of Rice Mill Pond, stood the old brick building that was a rice mill, a tea room managed by a Summerville matron, a museum, and the digs for a famous Southern chef. The halcyon scene was picture-perfect.

Tranquil Halcyon Inn--An Enduring Icon Of Summerville's Prosperous Golden Age

Halcyon is likely not a commonly recognizable word by the average, everyday person unless you are of Greek decent or a student of Greek mythology. And may I add to this short list of the privileged few, the older residents of Summerville and the few observant Summervillians who have seen it while driving along S. Main Street.

To the Greeks, the Alkyonides Meres(Halcyon Days in English) is a name used to describe a two week period of warm and calm weather that generally occurs around the winter solstice, though not exclusively. They can also occur in February.

To a student of Greek mythology, the mythical explanation for the sunny days of calm seas and winds that appear every year between mid January and mid February in Greece is found in the story of the goddess Halcyon(Alcyone in Greek) and her mortal husband, King Ceyx of Thessaly. Their story is one of love, commitment, and death, but to make a long story short, ends with them being transformed into seabirds(many myths say Kingfisher birds) to be together forever. So her eggs can survive during the harsh winter weather, Zeus gave her 14 days of good and calm weather--thus the birth of the Halcyon Days. The term has come to signify prosperity, joy, liberation and, of course, calm.

To the older residents of Summerville, the word Halcyon is remembered as the name of one of the grand resort inns that served the town during its most prosperous days called the Golden Age. If you are a Summervillian who has traveled up and down Highway 17-A while going about your everyday business, you likely have driven past Halcyon Place many times. Perhaps, you casually observed the street sign bearing its name, but were unaware of the unique history hidden beyond the tall trees, the white pillars and black gates.

The exact construction date of the house that eventually became known as Halcyon Place is unknown. The Colleton County records, the properties original county, were lost when Sherman's troops burned Columbia in 1865. The earliest surviving reference to the property indicates the house was built between 1830 and 1840 and was called Duke's house--the original owner being John R. Duke. It was built in the classic Southern style. A 12 x 50 foot spacious two-story columned porch greeted you on arrival. On the porch was a joggling board--one of its owners tells a story of acquiring the joggling board she felt completed the porch.

Inside, the first floor featured a 33 x 20 foot living room with 13 foot ceilings, a spacious 26 x 20 dining room, two large dens, a bedroom and stairs leading to the second floor. The second floor contained four bedrooms and a hall. The most unusual second floor feature was a door that led to nowhere, no stairs, no landing and no indication anything was ever there except empty space. Mrs. Dion, one of its owners, jokingly referred to it as the door for invisible inhabitants.

A 1909 plat of the property shows Halcyon Place covered eight acres, which included a pear orchard. Aside from the house, on the grounds were some old outbuildings, service buildings, servants quarters and a gazebo. It was these buildings that were turned into guest houses when Halcyon Place served as an exclusive resort inn under the ownership of the Weeds. One of the guest houses was called "Magruder's House." It was named after a slave that lived there until the 1930's. Another, called the "Pink Cottage", was a former stable and still had the barn doors to prove it. Located in a garden with a bricked-in spring, the octagonal gazebo was considered a historic landmark.

Halcyon Inn is not known for accommodating any famous guests like the Pine Forest Inn and Carolina Inn--at least none I am aware of. Mrs. Caroline Parameter, daughter of Mrs. Weed, was well known for her delicious menus--at one time she ran the Tea Room at Middleton Place. To its Northern visitors, Halcyon Inn was an oasis of tranquility and calm, a safe haven away from the rough waters of life and harsh winters--many of them staying a whole season spanning from late October to April.

Today, it remains a picture of resilience and serenity with its beautifully landscaped grounds, safely tucked away under the properties old oaks and beyond its large black gates. Appropriately named and forever immortalized in the historic writings of Summerville's more prominent residents, it is a reminder of the town's "halcyon days" and a surviving icon of the Golden Age.

New York Yankee left fielder, Brett Gardner, purchased 100 Halcyon in 2011.