Fort Hill was the home of John C. Calhoun, South Carolina's pre-eminent 19th century statesman, from 1825 until his death in 1850. John Caldwell Calhoun's national political career spanned 40 years from 1810-1850. His service in the national government included: United States representative (1811-1817); secretary of war to President James Monroe (1817-1825); vice president to President John Quincy Adams (1825-1829); vice president to President Andrew Jackson (1829-1832); United States senator (1832-1843); secretary of state to President John Tyler (1844-1845) and United States senator (1845-1850).

Thomas Green Clemson, Calhoun's son-in-law and founder of the University, envisioned "the preservation of the home of the illustrious man who spent his life in the public service of his country." Thomas Clemson willed that Fort Hill "shall always be open for the inspection of visitors."

The wallpaper restoration process at Fort Hill has included work by wallpaper conservator Susan Nash from West Virginia to stabilize several of the wallpaper fragments. The conserved wallpaper fragments were then shipped to Carter and Company/ Mt. Diablo Hand Prints in California for art design. Fort Hill wallpapers being reproduced include the parlor (blue stripe), parlor border (tobacco and cotton blossoms), master bedroom (large floral), master bedroom border (geometric with cartouches), hallways (small boutonniere and vine), northeast bedroom (Japanese figurine), Clemson bedroom (blue pinwheel) and Clemson bedroom border (floral motif).

The walls of every room in Fort Hill are constructed of horizontal planks. Historically, the technique used by paperhangers was to first apply a layer of stretched muslin with tacks then apply the wallpaper with wheat paste. This system protected the independent muslin/wallpaper laminate from the seasonal movement of the wood planks. An involved search for a contemporary paperhanger who specialized in this type of installation led to Historic Wallpaper Specialties owner, Jim Yates. Jim has researched and revived this"lost art". The following photos represent the project as completed. The project required four phases, each lasting one week. Muslin was installed in all rooms on the first trip while the wallpaper and border installation took three trips.