Models of Drayton Hall's two lost outbuildings are now on display at the property near Charleston, S.C. (Drayton Hall)

The fine line between memory and imagination became apparent late last year when two scale models were unveiled—the last remaining miniature of New York City's destroyed World Trade Center, fresh from a meticulous restoration; and a carefully researched recreation of two outbuildings at Drayton Hall, an 18th-century rice plantation and Trust historic site near Charleston, S.C.

Images of the Twin Towers are emblazoned in everyone's mind. No one today, however, has seen the kitchen, wrecked by an 1893 hurricane, and the laundry, destroyed by an 1886 earthquake, that once flanked the main house at Drayton Hall. Their appearance in the model completes the original composition.

"The model provides a three-dimensional physical reality that a photo or virtual exhibit can't," says George McDaniel, director of Drayton Hall. "You can see the texture and details and walk around it and see it from different angles."

The Drayton model, crafted of laser-etched and hand-carved basswood on a four-by-six-foot base by University Park, Md., architects C. Michael Arnold and Thomas Eichbaum, is a work of art that serves as an educational tool. Built with a donation from Parker and Gail Gilbert, it may be seen at the main house.

The seven-foot-high Twin Towers—finished by the towers' architect, Minuru Yamasaki, in 1971—supply an emotional link to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Restored through a Save America's Treasures grant matched by Alcoa, it is displayed at the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan.