Rogers Home a bit of contemporary history
March 6, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – All homes are unique. All homes within a city’s historic district are almost certainly so. And then there are those homes that – because of their unique combination of location, history, design and construction – are simply unlike any other. Which brings us to the Rogers home, currently on the market, in Columbia’s Arcadia Lakes neighborhood bordering Forest Acres, Forest Lake and northeast Columbia.
Built in 1964 on the design-requirements of then up-and-coming attorney Eugene F. Rogers (founding partner of Rogers, Townsend, and Thomas Law Firm), the home has six extraordinary features and many sub-features.
First, the bricks used in construction were those salvaged from the great campus-sweeping fire that same year at Columbia College (the buildings that burned were constructed in 1910, making the bricks at least that old).
Second, the woods used were California Sequoia redwoods; chosen by Rogers not only for their beauty, but as Rogers says, “Redwoods are the oldest living things on Earth.”
Third, the 4,000-sq.-ft. home – including four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and the butler’s suite – is heavily influenced by the work of the famed American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright.
Fourth, the home is marvelously secluded; built atop a ridge overlooking the lake (its sweeping views – from both the family room and living room – through huge floor-to-ceiling windows are akin to the lofty woodland and waterfront vistas one might experience in a mountain chateau). Yet the home is less than a half-mile from Trenholm Road and immediate access to the city.
Fifth, there are myriad interesting sub-features that were either built into – or have become part of – this home and its surroundings over the years. The sub-features include the aforementioned windows (all bedrooms have lake views as well), both gas and wood-burning fireplaces, as well as Rogers’ favorite, a ventilated interior barbeque grill. There is also a huge outdoor deck overlooking the lake, a boating and fishing dock, and a gazebo on the grounds.
Speaking of the grounds, all 1.3 acres have been meticulously cared for and landscaped for 50-plus years. A spacious greenhouse for numerous plants is surrounded by a variety of trees (Japanese maple, dogwoods, riverbirch, and various palms, pines, hickories, magnolias, and oaks), and an effusion of flowers: Azaleas in abundance, lots of roses, numerous other plants and fruit-bearing blueberry bushes. Some of the approximately 50 camellias are over 65 years old. All are watered by an extensive irrigation system.
Sixth, the home has real history. U.S. Congressmen, state senators and state representatives, generals, admirals, federal judges, senior members of the S.C. Bar Association, at least one Pulitzer Prize winner and a New York Times bestselling editor have all attended luncheons, garden parties, receptions, and various soirees at the Rogers home, where even a half-dozen recipients of the Medal of Honor (the nation’s highest award for combat valor) have been entertained. In fact, Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. Navy SEAL Mike Thornton has been an overnight guest here on more than one occasion.
“The story of this home is part of the story of this city in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st,” says Rogers, who – aside from his career as an attorney – is a World War II-era U.S. Marine and retired Maj. Gen. with the S.C. Military Dept.’s Joint Services Det. “When most people think of Columbia history, they think of that great 400-block square founded along the Congaree River in 1786. But as the city began its expansion and evolution after the American Civil War and then the first half of the 20th century, so did its story. This house reflects that.”
History indeed; when the home was built in 1964, the Cold War was in full swing. The Cuban Missile Crisis – less than two years earlier – was fresh in the minds of all Americans, and the U.S. Defense Dept. had recommended that homes close to a military installation (like Columbia’s Ft. Jackson) be equipped with a bomb shelter. So Rogers had a deep below-ground shelter built with a solid foot of steel-reinforced concrete lining each of the walls. Today, the home’s bottom-floor shelter serves as a private library and quiet office space, “perfect for study, reading and quiet meditation,” says Rogers. He adds, “It has also served as a refuge during the occasional tornadoes that struck the city over the years.” Though fortunately, no twister has ever hit the Rogers home.
Rogers loves the house he and first wife, the late Susan Rogers, built. He never wished to leave. But “father time,” he says, has impressed upon him and his wife, former S.C. Rep. Elsie Rast Stuart Rogers, the need to move to Still Hopes retirement community.
The Rogers home is a showplace to be sure. It’s the perfect entertainment home. But perhaps its perfection lies within its absolute solitude before and after the party.
The Rogers home is located at 6711 Skii Lane in Columbia.
[For a tour or more information, contact Eugene F. Rogers at 803-360-7000]
