Auckland was established by Thomas Pinckney (died 1705) and named after the English town of Bishop Auckland. It was one of several rice properties owned by the Pinckney family. The original house was burned down during the American Revolution by British Dragoons raiding northwards from Savannah led by Lt. Colonel James Marcus Prevost. The property was acquired and held by the Sanders family until 1989 and used for truck farming and pasturing. It was sold to Mr.Gardener who in turn sold it to Wistar and Oliver Bjorksten, MD in 1990. The Bjorkstens used Auckland for recreation until retirement in 2006. After traveling worldwide , they decided to live there. They built the first house on Auckland in over 225 years and custom designed it in a Japanese temple style to blend it subserviently into the beautiful waterfront site
Auckland is 139 acres with approximately 1/2 mile of river front on the Ashepoo River, and approximately 1/2 mile of creek front on Johno Creek. which is the property line separating Auckland from Bonnie Doone Plantation. The Ashepoo River border nestles up to Dawn Plantation. Approximately 90 acres are in historic rice fields covered mainly in gum and cypress trees. The old dikes are still present and have been cleared so there are miles of walking paths throughout the property and all along both the Ashepoo River and Johno Creek.
Approximately 40 acres are high land most of which is forested in huge mature pine and live oak, red oak and white oak trees, and approximately 10 acres has been set aside for pasture and equestrian use..
There is abundant wildlife including: deer, fox squirrels and turkeys in the back yard.. Birds are abundant including: wood ducks, pileated and other woodpeckers, owls, hawks, etc as well as numerous migratory birds which stop by on their way south or north such as: robins, prothonotary warblers, and martins. Several threatened species can be seen including: kites, wood storks and bald eagles.
Plant-life is robust and includes various native species such as: fragrant ladies-tresses (orchid), azaleas, irises, asters, marsh mallows, netted chain fern and spider lilies among others, as well as numerous edible mushrooms.
Three structures have been built: a main house, guest house and shed. The 2000 square foot main house is robust, having been constructed with 2 x 6 " studs, purloins every 2 feet, and fastened with 3 1/2 stainless steel screws. All the interior framing is borate treated lumber, and the outside siding is pressure treated. Flooring and kitchen cabinets are heart pine milled from the historic Joanna Mills beams. Walls are "V-board", an antique precursor to bead-board. The "dog-trot" design has a 600 square foot porch in the center of the house, dividing the kitchen/living room side from the bedroom/bathroom side. The porch is centered on an old canal stretching 300 yards from the house to the Ashepoo River and has a boat landing behind the house at the end of the canal.
The 832 square foot guest house has one bedroom, a living room/kitchenette and porch. The shed is 16' x 32' and has 5' roof overhangs. It is divide it into 3 sections: the workshop, a garden area, and the large center where a refrigerator freezer and equipment are kept. Many years of organic soil enrichment produces bountiful crops of: broccoli, cauliflower, fennel, bok choy, beets, kale, carrots, and fava beans as a winter garden. Persimmon and fig trees are producing annually.
Auckland is in the golden coastal area of South Carolina between Charleston and Savannah, Georgia; less than one hour from each historic city and its international airports. Located in the coveted ACE basin, a protected 350,000 acre wildlife preserve, Auckland will always remain a very private wildlife paradise
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