Historic renovation on Lighthouse Road is a work of heart |
By SUNDAE HORN Paula Schramel loves coming home. “I just love this house,” she says. “I plan to live here for the rest of my life.” Paula and her husband, Michael, have completed the renovations on the James Henry Garrish home on Lighthouse Road, and their love for the house shows in every detail. They have both preserved its historic character and made accommodations for modern living. The Schramels’ house is a classic, one-story, hip-roofed cottage with a wrap-around porch. It still has its original weatherboarding on the exterior and original beadboard paneling on the interior. The house was built for James Henry Garrish (1877-1947) in 1905, and served as a home and rental cottage until the Schramels bought it in 2000. Paula operated her antique shop, The Blue Door, in the house, but closed it when renovations began. Now the former shop is home to Paula and Michael, their daughter, Maddie, and son, Nat. Following the historic renovation guidelines provided by the state, Paula and Michael have saved as much of the original house as possible. That was easy, Paula says, because the house was in such great shape. It needed a new foundation and a new roof, but the walls and floors in between were in fairly good shape. The house was raised and given new footers and piers, which look like traditional brick piers, but are actually made of concrete with a red brick façade. Creatively mixing the old and new has been an important part of the renovation. The porch rails are another good example. After restoring the wrap-around porch to its original 115 feet, Paula set out to replace the missing spindles in her porch rails. Some of the spindles are original to the house. Some came from the dump in Swan Quarter (courtesy of John Fletcher), some from Sally Newell’s house on Hatteras, some from Julie Howard’s yard sale, and some from eBay. A few are new – Paula purchased those online – but all the spindles along the front of the house are old. The porch floorboards were replaced with more traditional tongue-and-groove boards. Len Skinner carved the pineapple newel posts on the new porch steps. A walkway of salvaged bricks will lead up the porch steps from the front gate, and the Schramels plan to replace the picket fence now that their days of lumber delivery are over. The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office allowed a small addition on the back of the house for a bathroom and laundry room. It was designed so that its rooflines echo and complement the old part of the house. One of the striking changes they made was replacing the asphalt shingle roof with a standing seam galvanized aluminum roof, which is expected to last 50 years or more. Metal roofs were not as common on older houses as cedar shake roofs, but there were some on Ocracoke, and Paula preferred its historical look to modern shingling. The historic interior of the house has also been preserved. The only sheetrock in the house is the kitchen ceiling. In the traditional Ocracoke fashion, the drywall seams are covered with strips of wood. The Schramels left the ceiling in place because it represents another era of Ocracoke construction style. The home also has two original chimneys and mantelpieces. The rear ell of the house is connected by an enclosed breezeway, which now opens onto a new deck and screened porch. Paula and Michael have filled their new/old home with antiques and heirlooms, and even the ghost seems pleased. “It’s supposed to be haunted,” Paula says. “We’ve heard stories. But if there’s a ghost, he’s a happy one.”   Because the Schramels followed state guidelines for historical preservation, they’re eligible for state tax credits. For more information, visit the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office website at: www.hpo.dcr.state.nc.us |