Welcome to Boxwood Manor!
This farm is where I grew up. It is my hope that you feel at home here as well. Join me in going back in time yet you are just minutes off the beaten path. We truly enjoy sharing this relaxing atmosphere with the community where history comes alive in the uniquely renovated Colonial farmhouse.
I was an only child and I had seventeen first cousins. Boxwood Manor was often a place of family gatherings, especially on Sunday afternoons. Many memorable times were had by us playing in the creek, riding Tony the pony, sliding down the hay bales in the barn loft, and going fishing. And don’t forget the treehouse in the mimosa tree and going swimming.
I have been a collector of odd jobs. I am a teacher at heart. My resume includes teaching clothing and textiles as well as foods and nutrition at local colleges. I taught an entrepreneurship program for Clemson Extension in the counties that had the highest unemployment. Teaching kids and adults how to cook and sew has been fun. I haven’t taught sewing in a while but I do see that in my future with the three great-grandchildren who will be living here soon.
The “12 Months of Christmas” was written by a friend and me in the early ’80s. It was an organizational guide for the holidays and a recipe book. This led me to design Christmas linens, tree skirts, stockings, aprons, etc. for a decade. I so loved that part of my life but fabrics became hard to source and my tagline for The Nostalgic Collection was “nothing could be finer than made in Carolina” was no longer a possibility.
I love to entertain. I enjoy trying new healthy recipes. I have a natural curiosity to learn something new every day. Often, I make up recipes with what happens to be in the refrigerator. I enjoy fostering family gatherings. It is my hope that you will join me.
I don’t consider myself an artist but I have a double dose of creativity. My grandmother and her three sisters were talented seamstresses. I began sewing in fourth grade, under their supervision. My mother did not sew but she never denied me fabrics, patterns, etc to make an outfit each week when I was in high school. I made all my clothes from bikinis to faux fur winter coats. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s meant I learned to crochet, macrame’ and embroider. I majored in clothing and textiles and minored in home furnishing in college.
My dream is to have a vegetable garden, cut flowers, native plants, and herbs. We plan all sorts of educational opportunities for the community to learn about alternative ways to grow and use fresh produce. My personal interest is in creating herbal remedies and cooking with freshly grown produce.
I have worked closely with the FFA classes at the local high school. The students come here to practice soil testing and surveying. We had a Farm to Table dinner as a fundraiser for the FFA students. They helped serve the locally grown produce.
Be sure to ask Annette to show you the 200+-year-old boxwood trees.
We are part of the SC Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail with 3 quilts painted and mounted on the barns. There is also an Anagama kiln called Fire Song on the property. It is a wood-fired pottery kiln that can hold about 700 pieces of pottery. It takes a community of potters to fill it and to fire it as it is fired up to 2300 degrees over 2 1/2 days (and nights) It is fired at least 4 times per year.
We host community tours, pot-luck suppers, egg hunts and games for the family. We have taught Christmas workshops with live greenery wreaths, garlands and kissing balls.
Various workshops and classes are offered seasonally. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of upcoming events.