Curious few get a peek inside long-closed lightkeeper's house

COROLLA, N.C.

More than 100,000 people annually climb the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, but about 50 feet away sits the old lightkeeper's house, a part of the site rarely seen from the inside.

On Wednesday, the 133-year-old house was opened for the first publicly advertised tour since it was restored in the 1980s. It was restricted to about 20 people, and site manager Meghan Agresto had to turn away several.

"There was a clamor for it," she said. "Only a small number of people are going to get to see the inside of this home."

A few others have glimpsed it over the years, by appointment or invitation. Its small rooms and absence of hallways, as well as limited staff and funds to maintain the house, prevent opening it to the public, Agresto said.

But because of the demand, Agresto plans another public tour soon.

Wednesday's group included Waterlily resident Dot Jones, who played in the house as a girl in the early 1950s, when it was unattended. This was the first time she had been in the house since.

"We called it the spook house," she said. "It's a treat to get to go in it now."

Inside, wood floors are original. All the windows and almost every door have been replaced. Furniture is from the period but of much higher quality than the keepers would have had. The double keeper's quarters was divided into two sections, north and south. The head lighthouse keeper and his family lived on the south side, and two assistants and their families lived on the north side.

At times, as many as 30 people lived in the three-story home. In later years, another, smaller house was brought to the site for the principal keeper.

"To Illuminate the Dark Space," a book by Jenny Edwards, records some of the lifestyle based in large part on memories of descendants.

William Riley Austin, a keeper from 1891 to 1928, made his grandson, O.S. Austin, trim grass with a pocket knife between walkway bricks. The original walkway is still there.

Above one of the upstairs doors, two Austin family boys wrote their initials and last names on the wall on May 15, 1914. When the walls were repainted during restoration, the penciled names were left uncovered.

Keepers weren't always friendly with each other, according to history records. Horatio Heath, an assistant keeper in the 1870s and 1880s, was accused by the head keeper of poisoning the other assistant's dog. Heath denied the charge and asked for a transfer but was told in a letter from a regional supervisor to remain because he knew him to be "peaceable." He stayed.

In the early days, the lighthouse keeper had a tough daily routine, carrying oil up 214 steps to the lamp, cleaning ice or soot from the lens, trimming the wicks, and every 2-1/2 hours rewinding the turning mechanism that allowed the light to flash toward the ocean every 20 seconds.

The Coast Guard automated the beacon in 1939, eliminating the need for full-time keepers. The house gradually fell into disrepair.

In the 1970s, John Wilson, former mayor of Manteo and great-grandson of lighthouse keeper Homer Treadwell Austin, discovered the deteriorating house. It was considered a hazard and slated to be destroyed. Wilson got permission to restore the state-owned structure, created the Outer Banks Conservationists, raised money, and opened the lighthouse for tours in 1990.

Agresto and her partner, Luis Garcia, manage and maintain the site, which is overseen by the conservationists.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com