If you've ever wondered what the wealthiest, fanciest, most well-traveled hoarder's house might look like, visit the Calhoun Mansion. With 35 rooms and 24,000 sq ft, this Gilded Age, Italianate manor is Charleston's largest single family residence, and nearly every inch of it brims with the eccentric homeowner's collected furnishings, art and antiques from around the world.
Many visitors find it gaudy, but collectors often salivate, and everybody's jaws tend to drop at the sight of the Imperial Russian malachite table, the red sofa that belonged to Napoleon's brother, the hippopotamus-tooth chandelier, the samurai-warrior replica that dates back to the Ming dynasty and folds into a carrying case – you get the idea.