Mrs. Whaley's Garden

Mrs. Emily Whaley (1911-1998) and her husband, Ben Scott Whaley (1909-1987), bought the circa 1754 Charleston Single House in 1938 and raised three daughters there. In 1942, Mrs. Whaley commissioned Landscape Architect Loutrel W. Briggs (1893-1977) to design a plan for their 30 x 110 foot plot behind their Pre-Revolutionary home on Church Street. Mrs. Whaley’s legacy is felt in the open garden rooms and her ever-lasting memoir, Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden, published in conversation with William Baldwin by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 1997.

It is our treat to show you the garden as it has continuously evolved in keeping with Mrs. Whaley's classic garden principles. It is a place to invite your soul for a visit. Gardens, above all else, are for sharing.

Emily Whaley's garden, the most visited private garden in America, is the quintessential Charleston garden. Her chic memoir walks the reader through life.