Orton Plantation Gardens
By: Kate Lino

Driving up the live oak-lined road, ancient trees dripping in Spanish moss stretch their limbs to form a tree bridge overhead. As we pull into the driveway for Orton Plantation Gardens, two stoic cement eagles perched atop the gated entry greet us. It is a nearly perfect scene from John Berendt’s, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a peek into times past and southern gentility at its best.

“Yes, we have mosquitos. Help yourself to mosquito repellant,” reads the sign posted outside the gift shop where we purchase our tickets. We chuckle at the hospitality still evident – perhaps a throwback to the good old days.

We aren’t laughing five minutes later when we realize that Southern hospitality is not extended to those blood-sucking insects.

Mosquitos aside, what greets us in the 20-acre gardens and grounds is a surprising juxtaposition of wild, untamed swamp and marshland and manicured lawns and gardens flourishing with hibiscus, gardenias, hydrangeas and roses. On a hot June day, the slight rustle of the wind in the treetops above and the rice fields down below blends with the constant hum of locusts.

A walk along the brick path amidst the varied flora leads to a stately Antebellum plantation home resplendent with four white Doric columns. Although the home is a private residence and is closed for public tours, the surrounding grounds are open for viewing from March through November. The clearing where the house and front yard stand presents a dramatic vista overlooking the Cape Fear River fronted by acres of overgrown rice marshes. Mimicking the architecture of the main house is Luola’s Chapel. Named in honor of the deceased wife of one of the owners, the simple white-columned chapel stands a few hundred yards from the main house.

Located off Highway 133 South between Wilmington and Southport in Winnabow, the land that is now Orton Plantation Gardens was first settled in the early 1700s. Through the centuries of its existence, it has withstood financial misfortune, survived an Indian attack, been the site of a hospital for Northern troops during the Civil War and endured the tragic loss of one of its owners by suicide.

Roger Moore, founder of nearby Brunswick Town, acquired the land from his brother, Col. Maurice Moore, and built the first house on the site. Ownership of the land changed hands many times before the descendants of the current owner bought the property in 1884.

During its heyday in the 1800s, the plantation was one of the lead producers of rice in the region. After occupation by Northern troops during the Civil War, the house was abandoned for nearly 20 years. A few more owners later, and it came into the hands of Col. K.M. Murchinson in sad shape – left to decay, trees were growing inside the house.

The great-grandfather of present owner Laurence Sprunt, Murchinson restored the plantation to its original state. Murchinson’s daughter, Luola (the namesake of the chapel), began planning and planting the gardens that still exist today.

It wasn’t until the late 1930s that the gardens first opened to the public. Laurence Sprunt was just 10 years old when his parents held a fundraiser to help a cousin who had been in a car accident pay for her medical expenses. They opened the gardens to the public for a fee of 25 cents, not a paltry sum during the Great Depression. At the end of the weekend, they had raised $1,000. From there, the idea was born to stay open to the public.

As the current owner and fourth generation to live in the house and grounds, Sprunt recalls growing up at Orton.

“I had just as much fun then as I do now hunting and fishing,” he says. “Now I am enjoying watching the birds and animals.”

That boyhood love for his surroundings has made him impartial to any specific part of the estate. His favorite part, he says, is “whichever part I’m in at any moment.”

In his lifetime, Sprunt has seen enormous changes to the region. Brunswick County is now the fastest-growing area in Southeastern North Carolina, a fact evident in the explosion of housing developments that have cropped up along Highway 133, just across the street and surrounding Orton Plantation.

“The land values have skyrocketed,” Sprunt says. “All the neighborhood has certainly changed. I can’t believe it.”

Sprunt is well aware of his property’s value, especially as businessmen salivating over the financial gain of creating a development on the property have approached him about selling his land. But Sprunt is not planning on selling out anytime soon.

“The first step to developing the property is I’d have to be six feet under,” he says. “And even then, I might have to come back from the dead and shoot a few people before I could go back to my resting place.”

Although the days of being a rice industry superstar are long over, Orton Plantation has not become a wallflower. Instead, Sprunt has diversified the products that Orton provides. The Sprunts maintain a greenhouse on the property, selling a variety of flowering plants, such as azaleas and camellias, bushes and Venus flytrap seeds. They also sell long leaf pine straw and sometimes timber.

In addition to its business endeavors, the plantation and its grounds are a popular location for the film industry.

Parts of more than 40 television and feature films have been shot at Orton, including Firestarter, The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, and A Walk to Remember, as well as scenes for television series such as One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek. This summer, production crews have been filming Hounddog, a drama featuring Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright Penn that is set for release later this year.

Not only did Sprunt allow for filming on the grounds of the property, but the crew from Hounddog took over parts of his home for some scenes.

“They’ve been very thoughtful and cognizant of the fact that people live in the house,” he said. “They know that housewives are particular about breaking things in their homes.”

Sprunt’s son David helps manage the property part-time, a job that keeps them both busy. The grounds require constant upkeep and Sprunt keeps a maintenance crew of eight to 10 people in the high season. Add to that managing the site as a tourist attraction – not a small task considering Orton averages several thousand visitors per year.

“There’s always room for one more,” Sprunt says.