[3] The plantation was established in 1735, and its main house exhibits one of the earliest known examples in the United States of a temple front in domestic architecture.

The main house, set near Hampton Creek, is a large 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a dormered hip roof, clapboard siding, and a raised brick foundation.

Its most prominent exterior feature is a projecting temple front, with eight Doric columns (six across and two additional on the sides) supporting a decoratively carved Adamesque frieze and pedimented gable.

The property was acquired in 1757 by Daniel Horry, who greatly expanded the building, adding a two-story ballroom on one side, and a master bedroom suite on the other.

Rutledge's 1941 book, titled Home by the River, describes his 1937 return to Hampton Plantation after a thirty-three year absence.