Ocracoke Preservation Society’s historic homes tour from 3 to 5 p.m. today (Dec. 2) will be along British Cemetery Road, Mark’s Path and Back Road.
Four homes will be on the tour along with two local businesses–Over the Moon and Island Artworks, also located in historic homes. The tour ends with a complimentary hot toddy at Zillie’s Island Pantry.
Tickets are $15 for non-members, $10-members and $5 for children.
Pick up tickets at the OPS museum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or can be purchased at any of the houses on the tour.
Below are descriptions of the historic homes.
Amasa Fulcher House, ca. 1904
133 British Cemetery Road
Owner: Suzanne Montgomery
The Amasa Fulcher House, also known at the Fannie Pearl, was built in 1904. A traditional two-story, hip-roofed, single-pile house, it is an unusually substantial example of the type of house for the island. The interior end chimney and rear ell are intact. The attached front porch has turned posts and a spindled railing. On each side of the first story are small hipped bays. The first story is weather boarded while the second story has wood shingles. According to local tradition, this house apparently started out as a story and jump and the second story was added slightly later. It was built for Amasa Fulcher (1876-1946), and then was passed down to his daughter, Fannie Pearl Fulcher. Fannie Pearl was a retired school teacher who lived here during the summer. Amasa Fulcher sold the house in 1900 for “$10 and natural love and affection” to his grandson, Amasa Fulcher, a prominent layman of the Methodist Church in Ocracoke. He established his store, the forerunner of the present Community Store, in 1918; was part owner of the J. W. McWilliams establishment on Cockle Creek, and served as secretary of the by-laws committee of the Odd Fellows Lodge in 1910.
The Amasa Fulcher House won Ocracoke Preservation Society’s Historic Home award in 1993.
The Former Methodist Episcopal Church North Parsonage, ca. 1928
150 British Cemetery Road
Owners: Tom and Judy Hale
The Former Methodist Episcopal Church North Parsonage was built in 1928 on British Cemetery Road. Built as a traditional story-and-a-jump house, the original house suffered a tragic fire. The owners decided to rebuild, keeping as much of the integrity as they could. A front porch enclosure and side additions were added as well.
Elisha Ballance Sr. Family House, ca. 1908
494 Back Road
Owner: Desiree Ricker
The Elisha Ballance Sr. Family House was built in 1908. It is a traditional story-and-a-jump house enlarged by the addition of a full-length front shed dormer, front hip-roofed porch with scalloped barge board and turned post, and wood shingled walls. The kitchen wing was added in the 1940s or 1950s and the old detached kitchen was removed. The house appears to have been raised somewhat on a new concrete piling foundation, and a concrete block flue has replaced the original chimney. Elisha Ballance acquired this property from his father Aaron Ballance, and had the house built by Stanford Jackson out of lumber salvaged from the wreck of the Ida Lawrence the year he married his first wife Lela. After her death, Ballance, a fisherman on the Ida Lawrence, married Emma Gaskins in 1914. The partial picket fence was rebuilt in the 1970s. The property had a rectangular, stucco-type cistern.
The Della and William Scarborough, Sr. House, ca. 1912
94 Mark’s Path
Owner: Eugenia Esham
The Della and William Scarborough Sr. House, also known to locals as Mr. Billy’s, is a traditional story-and-a-jump house with rear kitchen ell, hipped front porch with turned posts, now screened with original interior end chimney and weatherboard siding. It is believed to have been built circa 1912 by Stanford Jackson for William Kelly Scarborough who acquired the property from his father William Joseph Scarborough, Sr. (1857 to 1907). William Kelly Scarborough worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was captain of various dredges. His wife, Della Susan Garrish Scarborough, died in the 1980s. Large oak, cedars and hydrangeas complement this 1 ¼ acre characteristic early Ocracoke homestead. A tall, narrow, gabled privy was constructed in the early 20th century. The outbuilding with gabled storage is pre-1950s and the cistern was the rectangular barrel-vaulted brick type.
The O’Neal Family House, ca. 1870s
Over The Moon Gift Shop
64 British Cemetery Road
Owner: Kathy Scarborough
The O’Neal Family House is a traditional story-and-a-jump house has had many alterations, including a one-bay front stoop which probably replaced a larger front porch. There has also been a reworking of the exterior end chimney, asphalt siding and a side screened porch (now enclosed) added. Nevertheless, the house retains sufficient features to be a contributing example of this dominant traditional house type on the island. It was the home of Howard L. O’Neal, a local wood carver, and his wife, Martha Garrish O’Neal, and is known around the island as “Papa Howard’s.” The fact that Howard was a wood carver fits very well with the current use of the house which contains a unique gift shop with hand-made items from around North Carolina.
The Mildred and Ronald T. O’Neal House, ca. 1958
Island Artworks
89 British Cemetery Road
Owner: Kathleen O’Neal
The Mildred and Ronald T. O’Neal House is a small, one-story, side-gabled three bay wide house. It is a typical dwelling built by Ocracoke residents in the late 1950s and was built for Mildred and Ronald O’Neal on property that had been in the O’Neal family since the 1920s. The house is now owned by Kathleen and Ronnie O’Neal and is the current home of Island Artworks, another one of Ocracoke’s unique gift shops.
