Frank Lloyd Wright designed it. A movie producer owns it. And tours sell out in 5 minutes

A private plantation — the only one of its kind in the South — is now open to the public more often.

That doesn’t mean stepping foot on the Lowcountry estate designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright will be easy. But the Beaufort County Open Land Trust now offers annual tours of Auldbrass Plantation after only opening the gates to visitors every two years.

Tickets go on sale to Land Trust members Aug. 8 and to the general public on Aug. 9 for $175 each. The tours are Nov. 9-11.

Tickets were sold out in five minutes in 2017 and crashed the nonprofit organization’s website.

“It used to be a little secret in Yemassee, but now you just cannot overestimate the interest,” Land Trust director Cindy Baysden said last year.

The plantation just outside Yemassee in the northern reaches of Beaufort County has drawn visitors worldwide to see what Wright created in 1939. Auldbrass was bought by movie producer Joel Silver in 1987 (‘The Matrix,’ ‘Die Hard, ‘Predator’) and restored during the past three decades.

Silver allows the public tours as a fundraiser for the Land Trust, which secures the area’s marsh vistas, farmland and other sensitive property to shield them from development.

Auldbrass was an object of fascination when it was built, its angled design disconcerting to Yemassee locals.

Buildings on the property include a main house, caretaker’s house, kennels and stables.

This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Frank Lloyd Wright designed it. A movie producer owns it. And tours sell out in 5 minutes."