After second owner Ray T. Adams died in 1957, the Whalehead Club was used as a summer boy's school, housed a rocket fuel testing facility, and was proposed for resort development. With restoration in mind, Currituck County purchased the club in 1992, and by 1994 owned the surrounding 39 acres. By the time the county acquired the property, the main house had holes in the roof and the flooded basement teemed with snakes.
Aggressive restoration began in the spring of 1999. The copper roof was replaced using the original techniques of folding and interlocking the shingles. As the natural process of patination occurs the new copper roof will slowly become the green color that many remember. During the restoration most of the cork floors were replaced, the basement was drained and cleaned, and the snakes evicted. After expert testing, the house was painted in the original colors used by the Knights in 1925.
In 2002 the first phase of the restoration was finished. The Whalehead Preservation Trust is now immersed in the next major phase of restoration - exhibits and furnishings including finding as many of the Knight's furnishings, fixtures, accessories, artifacts, and photographs as possible.
Take a moment to stand back and enjoy this view of the restored Whalehead Club.
[Text with lower left photo:] Mr. Knight's bedroom during restoration.
[Text with upper photo:] The Whalehead Club Pre-Restoration.
[Text with middle right photo:] Kitchen pre-restoration.
[Text with lower middle photo:] Servant's bedroom pre-restoration.
[Text with lower right photo:] Duck door handle.
Comments 0 comments