Susan McPherson sings Pop Goes the Weasel to explain how the song originated around the spinning wheel.

A visit to Kensington Mansion is a Christmas invitation into the past. It is a trip back in time to the Christmas season of the 1890s, to a bygone era in the Victorian days. Lush, stately magnolias and aged oaks shade the 4,000 acres of the forest land estate. Visitors can almost smell the mistletoe wrapped around the banisters and the savory aromas of cinnamon and sweet fruit wafting from the winter kitchen. Under the imposing ivory dome, rimmed with layers of intricate vanilla crème–colored molding, choral voices of the Christmas angels can be heard.

Security guards Michole Johnson and Linda Mack combine business with pleasure during the Christmas Season at Kensington Mansion. International Paper owns Kensington Mansion. As a gift to the citizens of Columbia and SC, the company used funds designated for the preservation from their Land Legacy Program. They invested over $750,000 in two years to restore the house to its former glory. In 1996, Robert Lee Scarborough donated a collection of furniture, textiles, agricultural tools, and fine arts.

Kensington was added to the National Historic Register in 1971. Susan McPherson, public relations director for International Paper has served on the restoration project since the stewardship began in 1986. “It is a unique Italianate revival that took the working partnership of the International Paper and the Scarborough–Hamer Foundation,” McPherson said.

Stories of Kensington, some folklore, some documented by photos and research, speak of times of ease and comfort, trials and hardships.

“There are so many colorful stories about the mansion,” McPherson told the visitors. “I love each and every one of them. I do have a favorite, although it may be local folklore. It is the story about Granny Kinloh and how she refused to leave the house as Sherman’s Union troops approached. Waiting at the front door, she confronted a solitary Union officer, and caused the young man to remember his own grandmother. He told Granny he could not burn down his grandmother’s house and left the way he came. When the Confederate Calvary came looking for the soldier, Granny misdirected them so the soldier would be safe.”

Free concerts follow the Saturday 2:30 tours. On December 11 at 3:30 The Story Family Chorus will perform. On December 18 at 3:30 the Webber Elementary School Chorus will perform.

To learn more about Kensington Mansion tours, call 803-353-0456.