THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604250320
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 34 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: About the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Two weeks ago I wrote about reverse floor plans, a design common on the Outer Banks but unusual in most other parts of the country. For all but short-term vacation living, this reverse design - where living areas are above bedrooms - puts aesthetics above convenience. But the views from third-floor living areas make the design irresistible for many homeowners.
It's not a decision to be taken lightly. I've heard from many readers that, over time, the views become less important than the aggravation of a floor plan that makes everything from answering the doorbell to stocking the kitchen inconvenient.
In response to that column, another reader shared her experience. This reader has a garage and utility/laundry room on the ground floor, a great room and two bedrooms on the second floor (usually called the first floor here), and bedrooms on the third (top) floor. ``Our ocean view is good from the second floor but great from the third in our master bedroom,'' she wrote.
``Would I reverse if I could? No. I like having the confusion below me and the freedom to escape to the master bedroom above, away from TV, guests, kitchen noise, etc. We also enjoy watching the sunrise.''
``I would hate having to carry supplies up yet another flight of stairs. Friends who rent complain about this.''
``I suggest having a deck or designating a room for a den on the third floor if the view is important. I would hate, too, to have my guests enter the house from a hall that serves the bedrooms.''
In response to that same column, I also heard from Dick Harrison, a part-time resident of the Outer Banks. Harrison, retired from Willoughby Boats in Norfolk, developed a gadget called Helper-Hoist a few years ago.
Helper-Hoist consists of a weather-resistant electric hoist and fiberglass cart that operate from a davit (that's a small crane, or arm) mounted on a second or third floor deck or porch. The cart, which detaches and can be rolled like a baby carriage to the car or into the house, has a 300 pound or 6-cubic-foot capacity and costs $995.
The hoist attaches to the deck floor with just four bolts and can be easily installed by most homeowners. The system is completely portable, says Harrison, designed to break down into pieces that won't exceed 35 pounds each. Harrison built the prototype Helper-Hoist nearly nine years ago to win his wife's approval for the purchase of a house with a reverse floor plan. She wasn't going to let him buy the house unless he fixed her a lift, he says.
``I was in the marine business, so I took some parts I had and made one.''
It wasn't long before a neighbor asked Harrison to built a hoist for his house, but before Harrison got the job done he suffered a heart attack. It was another two years before he tackled the hoist again. In the meantime, the prototype made his regular visits to the beach possible.
Before the hoist was finished, ``it would take me six trips up and down the stairs to empty the car every weekend we came down here,'' he says. ``With the hoist, I'd roll the cart to the car and fill it up while my wife went upstairs to turn it on. We'd be done in no time.''
Harrison has been selling Helper-Hoists for five years now but has been surprised at how slow sales have been. He's talked with several contractors and real estate agents thinking it would be the perfect sales clincher for people torn between views and practicality.
``They don't seem to be interested,'' he says. ``But one of these days it's gonna catch on.'' If you're the owner or would-be owner of a reverse floor plan, you might want to check out the Helper-Hoist. You can reach Harrison by calling Willoughby Boats at 804-583-4515.
In February, I wrote two articles about ``recycling'' houses. Accompanying one of the columns was a photograph of an old Nags Head cottage undergoing major renovations. The photo showed the cottage being moved away from the oceanfront because of an eroding beachfront.
``Could this be the Sherlock cottage?'' wrote a Virginia Beach reader. ``For some reason, this name sticks in my mind. During the 1940s, my friend's family rented a cottage for two summers. I was invited each time to accompany them. We had some wonderful days. The cottage we stayed in looked like the one in the newspaper and brought back some very special memories.''
The cottage in the photograph is currently owned by Betsy Parrish of Richmond, Va. It was built by her father, Fred Woods of Edenton, in the 1930's, according to Parrish. It was never called the Sherlock Cottage, although it was rented out for a few summers in the 1940s to a family from Rocky Mount.
The Parrish cottage looks familiar because it is very similar to many other cottages built along the Nags Head oceanfront between 1910 and the 1940s.
And for good reason: According to Catherine Bishir, an architectural historian for the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, ``most of the moving, remodeling, and expansion of old cottages, and construction of new ones was the careful handiwork of (S. J.) Twine,'' an Elizabeth City builder.
If the Parrish cottage was not built by Twine himself, then it was definitely modeled after Twine's work. It shares his signature roof lines: an acutely angled gable roof that flows into less steeply pitched porch roofs wrapping the house.
There are several of these old Nags Head-style cottages still standing on the beachfront across from Jockey's Ridge. Owners like Parrish have decided to recycle the old rather than give in to the financially-expedient temptation to raze and rebuild.
By hanging on to family memories, they leave a bit of architectural history for all of us to enjoy. MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959. Or e-mail her at realkidd(AT)aol.com by CNB