Owned and operated by the nearby Charleston Museum, the Joseph Manigault House (350 Meeting St., 843/723-2926, www.charlestonmuseum.org, Mon.–Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun., 1–5 p.m., last tour 4:30 p.m., $10 adults, $5 children, combo tickets to Charleston Museum and/or Heyward-Washington House available) is sometimes called the “Huguenot House.” Its splendor is a good reminder of the fact that the French Protestants were far from poverty-stricken, unlike so many groups who came to America fleeing persecution.

This circa-1803 National Historic Landmark was designed by wealthy merchant and investor Gabriel Manigault for his brother, Joseph, a rice planter of local repute and fortune. (Gabriel, quite the crackerjack dilettante architect, also designed Charleston City Hall.) The three-story brick townhouse is a great example of Adams, or Federal, architecture.

The furnishings are top-notch examples of 19th-century handiwork, and the rooms have been restored as accurately as possible, down to the historically correct paint colors. The foundations of various outbuildings, including a privy and slaves’ quarters, are clustered around the picturesque little Gate Temple to the rear of the main house in the large enclosed garden.

Each December, the Manigault House offers visitors a special treat, as the Garden Club of Charleston decorates it in period seasonal fashion, using only flowers that would have been used in the 19th century.