Two of North Augusta's most recognizable landmarks are under new ownership.
Kelly and Diana Combs closed on Rosemary and Lookaway halls Sept. 9.
The couple, who currently live in California, plan to make Rosemary Hall their primary residence.
Eventually they'll open it as a bed and breakfast, Kelly said.
Immediately following the closing, the Combses held informational meetings to inform potential investors about their plans for Lookaway Hall.
They formed Lookaway Hall, LLC., and are now looking for investors to partner with them in ownership and upkeep of Lookaway Hall.
"It would be a for-profit entity but with a mission of preserving the building," Kelly said. "It would be a preservation of this icon of North Augusta."
The investors will decide as a company exactly how the building will be used, but ideas the Combses proposed included upscale retail shops and boutiques, a restaurant and an events facility.
"It needs to have foot traffic all the time," Diana said. "(It should be) accessible to the community. You could come up to Lookaway, have some lunch and shop there."
Diana plans to follow her own passion at Rosemary Hall. She wants to work closely with women's ministries at local churches and open her home to such intimate events as themed luncheons.
She began a similar venture in the San Bernardino area in California and said she had 400 women coming to her home from all around the area once a month for luncheons.
"It was sort of my creative outlet," she said. "I love to entertain and have people over."
Kelly will spend the fall commuting between North Augusta and California while he wraps up business there.
For eight years, he has been a partner in Medical Real Estate Development, LLC. As part of that firm, Kelly developed medical office complexes.
He will give up his partnership to devote his attention full time to the halls.
The Combses had been looking for a bed and breakfast to buy when friends mentioned the halls. Diana wanted to live in a community that resembled her hometown in the Midwest.
They fell in love with the North Augusta community as much as the halls.
For now, Diana said she is looking forward to cleaning Rosemary Hall and getting it decorated for Christmas.
"It's crazy because it's full of stuff," she said.
Reach Lisa Kaylor at lisa.kaylor@northaugustatoday.com.
