 |
|
Philip Howard’s Ocracoke house is featured in new book
By SUNDAE HORN  Whenever
I visit Philip Howard, I glance over his bookshelves to see
what’s new. He always has interesting titles, and we’ve had
some good discussions about them. Philip likes to read about history
and science and religion, and for the most part his choices are a tad
highbrow for me (but don’t tell Philip), but I try to keep up.
Recently, however, I noticed that Philip had a different sort of book
on prominent display – a decorating book.That’s my kind of book, so I picked it up with great delight. Philip told me to turn to page 106. Doing as I was told, I was even more delighted to see Philip’s house! You just never know where Ocracoke will turn up next! “The Southern Cottage: From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Florida Keys” by Susan Sully features essays and full-color photographs celebrating 18 houses that capture the “spirit of the southern cottage.” It’s a beautiful book, at home on any coffee table, and the stories of the cottages are as charming as the photographs. In the chapter entitled “Past Present: a Story-and-a-Jump in Ocracoke Village,” Sully captures the spirit of Philip’s painstaking historic restoration of his grandparents’ house.  Built ca. 1860 for Thompson Bragg, the house used to sit on what is now School Road. In 1893, Philip’s great-grandfather, James Howard, bought the house, had it moved to its current location on Lawton Lane, and gave it to his son, Homer, for a wedding present. Homer and his wife, Aliph Dean O'Neal, had 13 children, one of whom was Philip’s father. The house was sold out of the Howard family in the mid-1960s, but Philip bought it back in 1990. In 2003, Philip obtained approval from the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office for a rehabilitation of this contributing structure in the Ocracoke Historic District. Work was begun in January, 2004, and Philip moved into the house in May, 2005. He likes to quote a neighbor, who told him, “It looks like you throwed out your big anchor!” That’s an Ocracoke saying for “You’ve settled down.” “Southern Cottage” features eight photos showing the house’s charms, inside and out, and describes what, exactly, a story-and-a-jump means and why it’s historically significant. I really enjoyed reading about Philip’s house, but I didn’t stop there – every cottage in Southern Cottage is charming and cozy, and I read about each one. My favorites are a tiny cottage on Johns Island, South Carolina, and another on Tybee Island, Georgia. (But don’t tell Philip). This is a book I will look at again and again, especially when I need some sprucing-up ideas for my own centenarian story-and-a-jump southern cottage. Philip has written a nice history of his house, including historic photos and before-during-and-after-the-renovation photos, which he has published online at: www.villagecraftsmen.com/howardhome.htm. 
 |
|
|
|