Pebble Hill Plantation

On Saturday, Kris, Sophie, Jake, Mom, Bun, and I visited Pebble Hill Plantation near Thomasville. The grounds are so beautiful, so spacious, with spread-y live oaks and very old camellia gardens, fountains, a sun dial, and lots of Spanish moss. There’s a tennis court and a dog hospital, and the brick stable complex is almost as magnificent as the main house. Just driving through the front gates you get a very grand and noble feeling. You feel very rarefied and special just visiting for half a day, so I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live in such a place, to lead a life so privileged that you never had to look at anything ugly.

The last owner of Pebble Hill was Pansy Poe, who died in 1978. She was a great horsewoman and polo player, and she hunted and raised dogs and collected all kinds of things: porcelain and scrimshaw and wildlife art.

Here are the sights I loved most at Pebble Hill: the china hand-painted with camellias, the entire kitchen (so big and airy), the holly trees in the garden (old and covered in red berries), a dirt road lined with dogwoods, the big Belgian draft horses, and the maze made of sculpted yews where we played tag with the kids.