THE BRANTLEY MANOR (Columbia, SC) - A Castle In My Own Backyard

craig and i were talking, as we often do, about what wed do if we ever could have the chance to win millions of dollars, and we always seem to talk about going back to columbia...

i always mention id like to build a home, or find one thats really neat looking (to me) and buy it.

this led us to a discussion about THE BRANTLEY MANOR.

craig said it was on lake murry, and was "Columbias Castle"

i said, "the WHAT?!"

he repeated the name to me, and said it was on lake murry.
"REALLY?!?!?!"

i was dumb struck.
i have lived in Columbia, SC for the majority of my life (22+ years) and i had NEVER heard about this mansion...
let alone heard it even resembled a castle.

well, being the savey person on the net that i have become, i went and googled this BRANTLEY MANOR with the addition of COLUMBIA SC on the end, and waitied less than a second for web info to pop up about it.

sadly, what i found was...it has burned down, and i never had the chance to even lay my natural eyes on it.

it WAS for sale at one point, but caught on fire, with the suspicion of fire.

finding an article about the manor BEFORE the fire, or any images as well, was difficult. but a few pages into google came up with this:

Brantley Manor Destroyed – February 2010

Conveniently located in the same May 2003 issue of Unique Homes as Dean Gardens – it’s really no surprise that I had my eye on this property.  Titled ‘Premier Lakeside Estate’ the home was described as a timeless English Manor and was situated on 4.8 pristine acres with a private peninsula.  The Main House which featured exceptional architectural artifacts and elements from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth centuries was approximately 20,000 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 9.3 bathrooms – making it the largest home on Murray Lake.  The list of features of the home is what really caught my attention, including the dual grand entries, two libraries, pub, indoor & outdoor pools, tennis court, fishing pier, floating dock, guest house, guest apartment, 3 slip indoor boat house and even dog kennels.

Having never searched the home in the past, I was curious to see if it ever sold.  The property was purchased in 2008 for $3.5 million, nearly $7 million less than the appraised value in 2003.  I found out the new owners had planned to ‘modernize’ the English Manor but quickly changed their minds and decided to tear it down and possibly develop the land.  The owners had an Estate Sale and sold off many of the unique treasures within the home and shortly after began demolition.  Only a week into demolition a fire broke out at the property in February 2010.  It burned for nearly 2 hours, destroying much of the home and causing an estimated $1 million in damage – which was no problem since it was being torn down anyway.  The owners family said the home was already more than half way demolished when the fire broke out and most of the expensive items inside had been taken out.  After weeks of investigating, Richland County officials ruled the fire as arson, but even stranger the home wasn’t insured.  After looking at the Google Maps aerial imagery of the Estate, you’ll notice the only part of the main house that survived was the ‘Indoor Pool & Glass Surround’ which was built in Europe and shipped over piece by piece.  It’s a very interesting and sad end to an Estate known by many on Lake Murray.  ”It is beautiful and everyone on Lake Murray thinks of it as a landmark and an icon on this lake,” said Joy Downs, director of the Lake Murray Association. “We’re sad to see it go.”

Price: $7,400,000 – Sold for $3,500,000
Size: 20,000 Sq. Ft.
Bedrooms: 7
Bathrooms: 9 Full, 3 Half
Speciality Items: 4.8 Acre Private Peninsula, 3 Storeys, Seven Fireplaces, Three Kitchens, Guest Apartment, Dual Grand Entries, Great Hall, Rotunda, Elevator, Music Room, Two Libraries, Pub, Media Room, Two Offices, Workout Room, Personal Exercise Room, Heated Indoor & Outdoor Pools, Large Master Suite, Imported Marble, Limestone, Granite and Slate, Inlaid Wood, Tennis Court, Fishing Pier, Floating Dock, Greenhouse, Dog Kennels, 100 yard Golf Hole, Two Bedroom Guest House, 3 Slip Indoor Boat House.
Address: Murray Lake, South Carolina, United States

ONE WISH - A MountainWIngs Moment - By James Bonner

One Wish . . .
===============

Recently I was talking to my brother about the one wish God granted King Solomon in the Bible.

God told Solomon that he could have anything he wanted just by asking, but he had only ONE wish.

My brother and I discussed with each other what that one wish would be if we were allowed one.

Everything we came up with had some problem.

We knew that money and power were not the thing to ask for because the rich fill the office of psychiatrists and many take pills every day for depression.  Money just wasn't the answer.

We knew that revenge upon someone for something they did was not a good choice because what goes around comes around.

So we started thinking about higher things like knowledge and wisdom.

We thought about it.

We had studied religion, science, business and health all of our lives and there was a list of things that we knew we should be doing but weren't.  We needed greater discipline more than greater knowledge and wisdom.

I said, "Maybe what we need is the ability to program ourselves like computers to do those things that we know are right."  When we thought about this request it brought to mind a robot, for it does only what it is programmed to do but it has no will to do otherwise and experiences neither pain nor joy.

Then we discussed spiritual gifts.

"What about the gift of prophecy?" I asked.  This would help people know what path to take in life.  Then we thought, if a man could see the future of anyone's life without error, that man would have no privacy.  Everywhere he went people would be trying to find him, even at three in morning his phone would ring with
people asking the question, "Can you see if my child is coming back home tonight?"

Even the ability to raise the dead has problems.  Imagine if any corpse you prayed over would miraculously resuscitate to life. Anytime someone died people would call you or hunt you down for you to come and bring their loved one back to them.

Or what about just the ability to heal the sick without fail? If you had this, your peace would be lost to lines miles long from one hospital to the next waiting on a touch from you.

The answer to one simple wish contains a lot of information about the asker.  It tells a lot about where you are and where you are going.  After we discussed it long enough, we realized we had already been blessed with everything we needed.  That which we didn't have, we had the ability to get.

The revelation that came to us was that what people really want the most is that which they spend most of their time trying to get.

If you only had one wish, what would you ask for?

What do you spend most of your time trying to get now?


~A MountainWings Original by James Bronner~