2017-WRIGHT (docents) REPORT- We are pleased to announce, Auldbrass Gets 2nd Tour Dates
In an unprecedented move, Frank Lloyd Wright's Auldbrass Plantation will open for 2 consecutive weekends in November for public tours. The newly added second weekend was recently confirmed by Auldbrass docent Jim Klippel who stated, "The demand for these tours is far greater than any of us could have ever hoped for. For us here living in the South, Auldbrass represents the only Frank Lloyd Wright home in our part of the country, and I think this is why you see such high demand from historians and architects alike to be able to catch a rare glimpse of the homesite. It is exciting to see so much interest in something all of us put so much time and thought into."
The Beaufort County Land Trust, in collaboration with Hollywood producer and Auldbrass homeowner Joel Silver open the Yemassee, South Carolina home for tours only one weekend every 2 years and tickets to the event are extremely limited, somewhere around 1,200 tourists get to see the home at a time. "Since I joined as a docent in 2013, we have always sold out of tickets to the tours, but nothing like what we saw this year," Klippel confirmed that the first round of 2017 tour tickets sold out in less than 1 hour and crashed the Beaufort County Land Trust's website, from the sheer amount of users accessing the website simultaneously. This led to the unprecendented second weekend of tours, to satisfy the high demand. Tickets for the second weekend will go on sale Tuesday August 22nd and may be purchased by phone ONLY, to avoid web server issues caused by too many users.
Earlier this year, docent Jim Klippel gave a detailed history of the Auldbrass Plantation and it's unique place in the Frank Lloyd Wright portfolio of homes to the Lower Altamaha Historical Society. http://loweraltamahahistoricalsociety.org/. "It's one of the only Wright homesites that is completely as he intended it. It is a home complete with property that is ready for farming and all the outparcels needed for self sustaining rural life." There are plans to finish building certain outparcels that were never completed in the original construction - completing the masterpiece.
To secure your ticket to the tour, call the Beaufort County Land Trust on Tuesday, August 22nd after 10 A.M. The tickets can be bought over the phone only and are on a first come first served basis and are expected to sell out yet again. The tours available are on November 11th and 12th so once you purchase your ticket make sure to book your stay for that weekend in beautiful Yemassee, SC. https://openlandtrust.org/portfolio-items/auldbrass-tours/
THE POST EVENT -WRIGHT REPORT, by wright docent fellowship U: The Beaufort open Land Trust https://openlandtrust.org/, Raised a record amount from the Auldbrass-C. Leigh Stevens (Client 1938) (FLW designed) tour. Thank you to the many Docents, generous volunteers, and local communities who donated time.
A special thanks to Mt. Joel Silver, who in concert with the OLT , opened his faithfully restored and Beautiful FLW plantation to the public. All proceeds benefiting OLT, to preserve natural sites and historic structures.
Thank you also to Author David G. DeLong, who was on site to autograph his book, AULDBRASS, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S SOUTHERN PLANTATION.