Garden Tours
Want to branch out into something different?
You're on the right (garden) path. Our 14 acres of landscapes in the heart of Robert Mills Historic District feature heirloom plantings popular with gardeners over the past two centuries. Take a stroll or enjoy your lunch in any of our gardens.
The gardens at Robert Mills House, Hampton-Preston Mansion, and Seibels House will be open to the public as follows:
Seibels House (1601 Richland Street): 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesday - Friday
Robert Mills (1616 Blanding Street): 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday | 1 - 4 p.m. Sunday
Hampton-Preston (1615 Blanding Street): 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday | 1 - 4 p.m. Sunday
Woodrow Wilson Family Home (1705 Hampton Street): 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday | 1 - 4 p.m. Sunday
Upcoming Outdoor Events
See All Events18 Apr
Thursday, April 18th: 8 — 10 a.m.
Birdwatching in the Gardens | Migration Season
1615 Blanding Street, Columbia, SC 29201
For Bird Watchers, late April through early May is one of the most exciting times of the year. Spring migration brings tons of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and more species that we don’t normally see through South Carolina on their way north to their breeding grounds. Hopefully, some of these birds...
02 May
Thursday, May 2nd: 8 — 10 a.m.
Birdwatching in the Gardens | Migration Season
1615 Blanding Street, Columbia, SC 29201
For Bird Watchers, late April through early May is one of the most exciting times of the year. Spring migration brings tons of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and more species that we don’t normally see through South Carolina on their way north to their breeding grounds. Hopefully, some of these birds...
09 May
Thursday, May 9th: 8 — 10 a.m.
1615 Blanding Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Grab your binoculars to join Historic Columbia and local birder John Tjaarda for a free, guided bird walk around the Hampton-Preston Gardens to learn about the many local and migratory birds in Columbia. With the Hampton-Preston gardens playing host to over 100 bird species over the course of the year...
13 Jun
Thursday, June 13th: 8 — 10 a.m.
1615 Blanding Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Grab your binoculars to join Historic Columbia and local birder John Tjaarda for a free, guided bird walk around the Hampton-Preston Gardens to learn about the many local and migratory birds in Columbia. With the Hampton-Preston gardens playing host to over 100 bird species over the course of the year...
Looking for something specific?
Visit our Garden Database to find exactly what you're looking for. With detailed information about every plant in all six of our historic properties, this database represents a wide swath of the diverse flora native to South Carolina.
Robert Mills Gardens
Due to its use by educational and religious institutions, grounds of the Robert Mills House never featured ornamental gardens. After Historic Columbia saved the property in 1960, gardens were created. Today, the gardens are a novel combination of an early 1970s landscape plan, featuring hallmarks of 19th century English design, and species and cultivars native to eastern North America. Open to the public and available for special event rentals, the grounds of the Robert Mills House are an inviting green space set within an urban environment.
Hampton-Preston Gardens
The Hampton and Preston families ensured that the four-acre grounds around the mansion signaled their extensive wealth and influence. Through enslaved labor the landscape was transformed into regionally-acclaimed gardens that contained a remarkable collection of native varieties and plants from around the world. One of Columbia's most heavily documented historic estates, Historic Columbia is recreating the gardens in the spirit and design of the antebellum era. The second phase of this transformation was completed in May 2018. Learn more about the garden's rehabilitation.
Seibels House Garden
Long celebrated for its beauty, the Seibels House garden is often mentioned in 19th- and 20th-century travelogues and articles. The garden received a comprehensive transformation in 2007 through the vision of contemporary horticulturist A. Jenkins Farmer, featuring a revitalized landscape that merges existing historic elements with heritage plantings to showcase the contributions of generations of gardeners.
Gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
Reportedly designed under the influence of Jessie Wilson, the future president's mother, the landscape was divided into the formal front yard and working back yards, which included vegetable and flower beds as well as a kitchen house, privy and carriage house. While little documentation of the property exists from the time of the Wilson family's occupation, records indicate that roses, tea olives, crepe myrtle, japonica, and other shrubs were planted in the front yard, implying its use as a decorative garden area. Rehabilitated in 2013, large magnolias line the front of the property, shading a Victorian garden in the spirit of Jessie Wilson’s vision.
See what's in bloom with
HC's Garden Database
With detailed information about every plant in all six of our historic properties, this database represents a wide swath of the diverse flora native to South Carolina. Our horticulture experts use this tool to track how our plants are doing, and you can use it to learn which plants are in bloom during each season.