"Join us for an elevated afternoon of tea, conversation, and live music as we gather for one of our final public tea experiences before Grand Holland transitions to a private member-focused offering." That line is on the event page for the November 11 afternoon tea at 815 Holland Road. For most of its history, the usual way into that mansion was a wedding invitation. For a few more weeks you can get in with nothing more than a ticket. The property's own calendar shows that period ending event by event, and one small café is the only part of the campus the club describes as staying open to everyone.
Twenty-Five Years Of Other People's Invitations
The house went up between 1997 and 2000 as the Ryan Nicholas Inn, a wedding and events venue: a custom-built Southern mansion designed to look like a turn-of-the-century home. It has never been a restored historic property. The Greenville News profiled founder Kim Becherer in 2014 and reported that the inn opened in 2000. In January 2019, the same paper reported the inn was up for sale and noted that Becherer and her father had built it.
By October 2020, Upstate Business Journal listed the property under its new name, Grand Holland Estate. The current owners are Jon and Megan Wilburn. Under the Wilburns it stayed a wedding venue, and in 2024 it doubled as a film set. The Post and Courier reported that the romantic comedy "A Wedding for Belle" was built around the estate. Megan Wilburn told the paper she had to fit filming in between her 40-something weddings that year.
The new model opens the building to anyone for a short stretch, and then closes most of it again.
What The Social Club Puts Inside The Mansion
TOWN Carolina's July 31 profile lays out the partnership. Restaurateurs Thomas and Angie Wirthlin wanted to build a social club around dining, recreation, wellness and community, and they found partners in the Wilburns. The club is centered on the 10,000-square-foot mansion. Members get pickleball, golf simulators, yoga, Pilates, Lagree classes and a full wellness center. The dining side includes the flagship Seven Oaks, The Hearth Room, Camellia Cottage and The Reserve Bourbon Bar, which pours Grand Holland's private-label Elijah Craig bourbon.
Sources describe the grounds as about six acres. The club says 6, TOWN Carolina says 6.2 wooded acres, and the 2014 reporting said 6.5. The estate says it will keep hosting weddings and private events alongside the club.
Membership comes in Individual, Family and Corporate tiers. Prices aren't posted. The membership page has a "Request Membership Pricing" form instead. The Founders Club page lists "Reduced founding initiation opportunities" and "Lifetime grandfathered dues" without dollar amounts. In July, TOWN Carolina reported special incentives for the first 300 members.
The November Calendar, Read As A Countdown
A banner on the club's homepage announces that the club is open to the public for a limited time. Below it the site says that "select upcoming events are open to the public before transitioning to members-only experiences." No end date is given. The event pages fill in the timeline. Here are the ticketed November listings that show a non-member price, as of October 26:
Date | Event | Time | Listed non-member price |
|---|---|---|---|
Thu., Nov. 5 | Six-Course Wine Dinner | 6 to 8 p.m. | $125 per person |
Tue., Nov. 10 | Mahjong for Beginners | 6 to 8 p.m. | $45 per person |
Wed., Nov. 11 | Afternoon Tea | 1 to 2:30 p.m. | $75 single; tables $150 to $600 |
Thu., Nov. 12 | Mahjong Open Play | 6 to 8 p.m. | $45 per person |
Thu., Nov. 19 | Mahjong Open Play | 6 to 8 p.m. | $45 per person |
Sun., Nov. 22 | Thanksgiving Buffet | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $44 per person |
Tue., Nov. 24 | Mahjong for Beginners | 6 to 8 p.m. | $45 per person |
The tea is the one listing that says outright it's among the last. The page calls it one of the "final public tea experiences" and describes it as a chance to enjoy the service "before this experience becomes exclusive to members."
Christmas Afternoon Tea comes next on the calendar, on December 3, 9 and 17, each from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tickets run from $75 for one seat to $600 for a table of eight. Those pages sell tickets but don't say whether they're public or members-only, so anyone hoping for a December tea should check that line before planning around it.
Some practical details from the listings:
- The wine dinner is listed as 6 to 8 p.m., but its ticket options are for 7 p.m. tables. Go by the time on your ticket.
- The Thanksgiving buffet has three seatings, at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Each is sold separately.
- The Mahjong nights come in two formats. Beginners sessions are guided learn-to-play nights, and open play is for people who already know the game.
Prices and times are live on the club's site and can change. The upcoming events page has the current list.
The Door The Club Says Stays Open
Of all the venues on the campus, Camellia Cottage is the one with no time limit attached. Its own page says the café at 813 Holland Road is "Open to the public Tuesday through Saturday," from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, and groups of five or more are asked to email ahead. TOWN Carolina's July profile also singled out the Cottage as the restaurant open to the public.
The Greenville News roundup of new Upstate restaurants, published Oct. 23, reported that the Cottage opened October 2. It serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and house-made pastries. Early favorites include the chicken salad croissant, sweet potato cake and a lobster-and-shrimp salad sandwich, and several menu items are gluten-friendly. The same story described community events like Mahjong nights as what makes the Cottage a local gathering place and not just another coffee shop. Fox Carolina covered the opening in three Oct. 20 segments, including a look at the Camellia Cottage menu.
Seven Oaks, next door at 815 Holland Road, is harder to pin down. The same Greenville News roundup describes it as the more upscale, full-service option that opened in October. The Seven Oaks page lists wet-aged Black Angus steaks, duck, shrimp and grits, salmon, short rib and scallops. The club also says Seven Oaks hosts visiting guest chefs from Greenville's food scene. The reservation form asks for party size, date and time and doesn't ask for a membership number. Still, nothing on the site says whether non-members can keep booking once the club goes private. The posted reservation windows are:
- Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, 3 to 9 p.m.
- Wednesday and Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, 4 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Monday, closed
The site notes that reservation windows may not match closing time. The Reserve, the bourbon bar, posts "Walk-Ins Welcome" and "No reservations are required," with no mention of membership either way.
For now, anyone who doesn't plan to join has two dependable options. The Cottage is the one the club itself describes as open to the public, with no expiration attached. Dated event tickets work through November, and the November 11 tea is labeled as one of the last of its kind. For Seven Oaks and The Reserve, check the club's own pages before you go.
Grand Holland put a clear deadline on its public calendar. Sellers can learn from that, because a home with a clear story and a well-marketed launch draws more attention in its first weeks. That's how we approach every listing at My Digital Listing: professional video, virtual tours, and multi-MLS distribution timed to the moment buyers are paying the most attention. If you own a home near the Holland Road corridor or anywhere in Simpsonville, get your free digital listing plan and see what that launch could look like for your property.
