Aiken-Rhett House Museum — Attraction in Charleston

Are seven stars possible? It was an unexpected delight at the end of a trip to Charleston with two boisterous 8 year old boys in tow. We were entirely ready to put the kids in a corner to watch Youtube while the parents quickly toured the house. But to our surprise, the staff offered the adults and kids full-screen iPods with headphones as the entire house tour was self-directed using on-demand audio chapters in an app. (Even better, the tour was simply an app you could download on your own phone or device. More on the implications later.)

The kids loved it because, well, it was a gadget. But it also gave them agency in choosing what to do, and an intimacy in hearing the narrator talk about the history and directing you to walk to a certain room or a corner of the house. They didn't have to "behave" and listen to a docent and were given the freedom to explore.

What's striking is how the tour immediately starts with the working quarters and the life of the "enslaved people" (not "slaves"). This immediately strikes you as a harsh truth behind the beautiful outside appearance of a mansion in Charleston. The kids were totally engaged, wandering from place to place, listening intently and even playing all the extra optional content. They would take off the headphones and excitedly tell the parents about what they learned – about the enslaved children who lived there, the extreme heat from cooking and prep, and how it was illegal to teach the enslaved how to read. Just the fact that the kids have the term "enslaved people" embedded in their memory is a huge win.

The fact that the house is preserved but not restored to some former glory is a huge plus. The audio narration did an incredible job describing the nuances of this and the benefits from an historical perspective.

In all, we stayed there for about two hours and hit every single nook of the historical house. But that's not all. The kids couldn't stop talking about what they learned, and they even asked to download the app so they could listen to the narration again after we left. (Historic Charleston Foundation app on iPhone)

On the 5+ hour drive back home leaving Charleston, they wanted to listen to all the narration again. For the next few nights, they wanted to hear to the house tour as their bedtime listening before sleeping. They talked about the visit at school and kept bragging about the experience to their friends.

Bravo, staff of Aiken-Rhett House – You found a way to engage both adults and kids with the exact same audio tour content, which allowed for a deep, personalized understanding of the complexities of life in that era. It is by far the most effective audio tour I have ever experienced and I'm hoping other museums can learn from it build on your...

Living History - this grand mansion is preserved as it was when acquired, with many of the original furnishings, tattered wall paper, and pealing paint of the 1800s. An extensive archeological dig has unearthed and displays many artifacts from both slave and White owner daily life. Take the self-guided tour with the excellent narration device that guides you room by room and provides an amazing amount of information.

To me the highlight was the first half of the narrated tour through the slave quarters that vividly portrays the life and sometimes death of the enslaved Africans who served the White owners in the home and worked the rice fields. While the White owners were very rich and owned up to 800 slaves, it was not uncommon for even house slaves - cooks, cleaners, nannies - to die of exhaustion, starvation, and fever at a young age. One young enslaved girl who worked in the house and kitchen died of starvation at age 7. Another house slave had her first child at age 11 - and thus provided her owners with another enslaved laborer.

But there are some inspiring stories here too, about a few slaves who learned to read and write - which was against the law - taught other slaves, and later helped "freemen" prosper after the Civil War abolished slavery.

Even with this stark and frank depiction of enslaved life, the second half of the tour provides much detail about the Aikens and the Rhetts - including the rift when the daughter of Governor Aiken (a Unionist) married a man who would fight the Civil War as a Confederate officer.

I have toured several of the beautifully restored, museum quality, homes in Charleston, but the Aiken-Rhett House made the biggest impression on me and it should not be missed if you want a vivid and balanced picture of early life in Charleston for the privileged and...

Arrived at the Aiken-Rhett House at 330pm, last tour starts at 415pm and they close around 5-530pm. The tour was ok, audio apposed to actual person was nice. Allowed us to take a extra minute or so at some of the rooms. The house was in preserved state which is how it is advertised and I guess I just wasnt ready for how badly the house was deteriorated. The tour last about 45 minutes plus an extra few minutes here and there. The reason for our poor review was actually the people who worked there. We dealt with 3 different ladies. One greeted us at the door and 2 downstairs where you get your ticket and can check out the gift shop. By the time we hit like 4pm the woman who greeted us at the door was now upstairs and closing doors and windows and gave us a rushed feeling. She actually said to my wife"your still here". This was 30 minutes after we started the 45 minute tour. When we were finished with tour we headed downstairs to get our belongings, return audio devices, use the bathroom and look at the gift shop. Within just a few minutes the ladies had all gathered their purses and were next thing to pushing us out the door. We were unable to look at the gift shop because of how they rushed us. Note again this was only 15 minutes after the last tour of the day and half an hour before they closed. We couldnt even comfortably look in the gift shop because they all stood there with purses on shoulders and lunch remains in their hands. I would recommend the tour, it was interesting but if you say your open until 5 then dont rush your patrons out before they are done. It really left a sour taste...