Today we know it as the Robert Mills House, named in honor of its designer. But, when work began in 1823, the Classical Revival mansion was known as the Ainsley Hall House, as it was intended to be a fine townhome for Ainsley and Sarah Hall. Instead, circumstances led to the property being used as a campus for three different religious schools, including a Presbyterian theological seminary and Columbia Bible College. Abandoned and threatened with demolition in 1960, the early-19th century architectural masterpiece became a lightning rod for historic preservation advocates who banded together to form Historic Columbia. Today, the Robert Mills House operates as an historic house museum featuring period rooms and focus galleries highlighting late-18th through mid-19th century decorative arts. Complimenting the mansion are gardens featuring a combination of early-1970s landscape design, hallmarks of 19th-century English-style gardens and the accomplishments of contemporary gardeners.

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