The Historic Robertson Homestead

The Robertson House is a fine reminder of the large number of 19th-century structures of handsome proportion and quality construction that once dotted York County. It originally stood proudly on the corner of Robertson and Ogden Roads. Today this is the location of the SC Department of Transportation, and nothing remains but the family cemetery. By the early 1970s, the house was unoccupied and beginning to show signs of significant deterioration. Dr. Frank Fairey, a Rock Hill surgeon, had an intense interest in historical artifacts and the preservation of history. He took notice of the home and its lovely lines, eyebrow windows, panel doors, elegant wainscoting, shouldered brick chimneys, and original window glass. One day, as he was driving by the house, a large red fire truck was sitting in the driveway. The officials touring the home told him they had no desire to save the house, and in fact, were going to burn it down for a fire training exercise. Within a few days, the Fairey family purchased an option on the Robertson House from the owners, the City of Rock Hill.

In the 1980s, Dr. Fairey and his wife, Martha, moved the beautiful house from its original location on Robertson Road to Oak Park Road where it now sits overlooking Fishing Creek. (Interestingly, it was positioned so that what was originally the front of the house is now the back, facing the creek). Though the house was intact architecturally, in order to make the home livable and bring it up to 21st-century standards, the home was carefully remodeled to preserve its architectural character.