THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
For more than half a century, Frederic C. de Sibert heard tales about his great-grandfather's 15-bedroom hunting lodge where fresh and saltwater poured through porcelain tubs, orchestras entertained at Gatsby-like galas and a dozen servants kept the black and white tile floors spotless.
He wanted to see the luxurious mansion that boasted the first electricity in Currituck County, had the first in-ground swimming pool in the Albemarle area and included five brick chimneys protruding from 12-foot ceilings.
On Monday, de Sibert finally got to visit the Whalehead Club and see his ancestors' once-opulent home for the first time.
``My wife and I tried to get up here when we were camping at Cape Hatteras in '59. But there weren't any paved roads in this area then. We got stuck in the sand just north of Kitty Hawk and had to turn around,'' said de Sibert, 65, who lives in Woodside, Calif. ``I'm glad we made it this time.''
About 35 Currituck County officials, volunteer tour guides and former employees of the hunt club looked on in the brisk afternoon sunshine as de Sibert reminisced about his wealthy great-grandfather, Edward Collings Knight, who built the historic Whalehead property in 1925. A curious Southern Shores property owner who had read about the Knights contacted de Sibert last summer and asked him to return to his family home. After months of planning, the technical interpreter and his wife, Marie France, made the cross-country trip.
``I always thought it had stucco walls. So I was a little surprised to find it's a wooden structure,'' de Sibert said of the now decrepit Whalehead Club while sipping orange punch on the front porch marred by peeling paint. ``Other than that, the outside was just as I expected it.
``But the inside condition is not as good as I'd hoped. It's seen a lot of wear and tear over the years. Hopefully, they can bring it back toward its former condition.''
Built by a Rhode Island railroad industrialist, the Whalehead Club was a hunting retreat surrounded by 1,000 acres of marshy waterfront and set in the shadow of Corolla's brick lighthouse. Legends say Knight paid $383,000 to construct his Outer Banks palace. But de Sibert said the cost was probably twice that figure.
Gleaming copper roofs sheltered the mansion's 35 rooms. Crystal chandeliers hung from the long, hand-carved panels in the dining room. A custom-made 1903 Steinway piano adorned a separate ballroom - complete with a wall-length bar. The huge home stood atop the area's first full basement and wine cellar. And an original gilt Otis elevator shuttled guests among the three floors.
``I never even met my great-grandfather. But I'd heard about this elevator for years,'' said de Sibert. ``My father told me that my step-grandmother, Mary Louise LaBelle, had an affinity for gin - and that by 11 a.m. she'd usually have tipped the bottle a few times. Great-grandfather had that elevator put in to help her so she wouldn't have to negotiate the stairs. I'm amused to see it today.''
Keeping with his family's partying personalities, de Sibert donated an heirloom from the Knight estate to the Whalehead Club on Monday. He presented his great-grandfather's 2-foot-tall, silver cocktail shaker crafted in the shape of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse to Whalehead Club Preservation Trust President Buck Thornton. When the palatial home is restored to its former glory, de Sibert promised, he'll return and leave the piece for future visitors to enjoy.
``This could really prepare a mean martini in its time,'' de Sibert said. ``I brought it from our basement and my wife polished it up. We felt it should come back here.''
When the Knights died in 1936, the Whalehead Club was abandoned. A caretaker looked after the home until 1940, when when an investor purchased it and the surrounding property for $40,000.
``My mother always said this was one of the worst investments great-grandfather ever made,'' said de Sibert. ``But Mother hated everything to do with hunting and killing. So perhaps that was why she didn't want to keep this club as her home.''
For a few years after a family named ``Adams'' bought the Whalehead Club, it operated as a boys' academy. Coast Guardsmen inhabited the huge house during World War II. Then rocket-fuel researchers, preparing for the Apollo missions, holed up in the lodge's secluded splendor until the early 1960s.
No one has lived in it since. Vandals have taken their toll on its lush furnishings, lovely carved wooden walls, windows, floors and fireplaces. Sea spray now coats its roofs with a dull, moss-green sheen. Mango-colored paint flakes from paneled mahogany walls in the back butler's room. And osprey have assembled straw nests in two of the tall brick chimneys.
In December 1992, Currituck County commissioners used proceeds from a new occupancy tax to purchase the Whalehead Club and 27.5 acres of land surrounding it. They signed a $2.4 million, 10-year contract for the property. Thornton said at least $5 million is needed to restore it.
Tour proceeds, private donations and grants have brought in about $500,000 toward that goal.
``Hopefully, in 36 to 40 months, we'll be able to have you back to see a fully restored Whalehead Club,'' Thornton told de Sibert Monday. ``We plan to re-do the dining room this summer. We want to give the public an idea of the oppulence your great-grandfather and his friends enjoyed here, during this home's heyday.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Frederic C. de Sibert, above, donates a silver shaker that ``could
really prepare a mean martini in its time'' to the Whalehead Club
Preservation Trust. His great-grandfather, Edward Collings Knight,
built the 15-bedroom hunt club with chandeliers, hand-carved paneled
rooms, six fireplaces, enough work for 15 servants, and fresh or
salt water for the tub - and so on, for those who liked to rough it
a little at a time. Now in disrepair, the lodge is being restored to
its former glory.
Graphic
WHALEHEAD CLUB DAILY TOURS
This summer, volunteers will conduct daily tours through the
Whalehead Club in Corolla. Beginning on Memorial Day weekend, tours
of the historic hunt club will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
daily. Adult admission is $3, children ages 6 to 12 pay $1, and
children under 6 - and Currituck County residents - are admitted for
free. All proceeds from tours will benefit the mansion's
restoration.
If you would like to donate money to help restore the Whalehead
Club, send a check to: The Whalehead Club Preservation Trust, P.O.
Box 91, Shawboro, N.C. 27973.
by CNB