Tilman W. O’Neal, 1893  

Story-and-a-jump house with original rear ell, a recessed porch with a vertical sheathed wall (now closed in to create an interior hallway), corbelled brick chimneys, wood shake siding, 2/2 and 4/4 sashes, and a hipped front porch with bungalow-style posts, probably 1930’s replacements (now chamfered posts). The screened porch on the north side of the ell is a later addition. The house was built for Tilman W. O'Neal (1875-1914) and his wife Aletha Garrish in 1893. Their daughter Martha Jane (1903-1971) continued to live in the house with her husband G.B Gaskin until her death. She and her parents are in the cemetery across the street. In 1973, it was purchased by John and Barbara Mitchell of Charleston WV. Susan and Loren Williams embarked on their love affair with the house in 2016, purchasing it from the Mitchell’s son John just after it was flooded in Hurricane Matthew. They undertook a historic preservation renovation with guidance from the NC Historic Preservation Office; the result has been featured in several presentations by NC HPO staff. Now a beloved member of the family, we refer to her as Martha Jane.

 

 

Bragg-Howard House, 1865

Traditional story-and-a-jump (1 ½ story) house with front shed porch, vertical tongue-and-groove sheathing, horizontal weatherboarding, and rear shed addition. According to local tradition, this house was built 1/10 of a mile east, near where Books to be Red is now located, for Thomas (Thomps) Bragg (1837-?). He never married and moved back to live with his parents. His sister, Rebecca, and her husband, William Fulcher, acquired the house at that time. The house was sold in 1898 to James and Zilphia Howard and given to their son Homer Howard (1868-1947) and his bride, Aliph O’Neal (1876-1950), as a wedding gift. It was dragged to its present location with horses. In the mid-1960s the house was sold out of the family. In 1990 Homer and Aliph’s grandson, Philip Howard, the present owner and resident, purchased the house. He had it rehabilitated to historic preservation standards in 2005.  The house is featured in The Southern Cottage (pub. 2007) by Susan Sully. 

 

Lawrence Howard House

Kenneth Lawrence Howard (1891-1975), son of Perry Coleman Howard (1835-1902), had the original house built in 1912 by Bill Gaskins. It was almost identical to the house next door built by his brother, Stacy, in 1909. This parcel was once part of the original William Howard tract and passed through to Perry Coleman Howard, son of Solomon Howard. Described as an early homestead style, weatherboarded two-story, three-bay wide, single pile house with hipped front porch, turned posts, vertical tongue-and-groove sheathing, and rear kitchen ell with engaged porch, the main house was significantly remodeled with supplemental artistic features and rear additions at the turn of the 21st century. Functional shutters in the gable ends are an unusual survival. The changes can be seen by comparison with the Stacy Howard House next door, which has had few modifications. It stayed in the Howard family until Wilson Garrish inherited it along with other family members.  He and Martha purchased it from the other heirs in 2003 and began a lengthy renovation of the house including a new brick foundation.  The house was sold to the current owners Ira and Julia Curl in 2021.  Perry Coleman Howard is buried in the adjoining family cemetery.

 

Chase-Harrell House (Sound Front Inn). 1828-1834; 1940s.

Impressively large 2-story, double-pile, hip-roofed frame house sited on a large parcel with a commanding view of the sound. The house has 2/2 sash, is covered with German siding, and has a two-story rear ell that appears to be early. The front, full-facade, hipped porch has been enclosed, and a 2-story flat-roofed sleeping porch, with jalousie windows, added to the north side in the 1940s. In 1828, Elisha Chase, New England sea captain and husband of Ocracoke native Thursa Howard, purchased a parcel of "3 acres more or less" where the house is currently located from Thomas Wahab (1776- 1810). In 1834 Elisha and Thurza Chase sold their property to Thurza’s brothers, William Hatton Howard and George Washington Howard. With their three children, Elisha and Thurza left Ocracoke to join a wagon train heading west. Somewhere in Tennessee Thurza died and was buried alongside the trail. The deed recording Chase's sale in 1834 to William and George Howard mentions a house, stable and outbuildings. The house is likely to have been built between 1828 and 1834 for Elisha and Thurza Chase. George Howard bought the property from the court in 1867, and sold it to Samuel Dudley Bragg in 1868. Bragg (1836-1902) sold it to "his wife and all his children and children to come" in 1869. Local tradition holds that as a seafaring man, Bragg was afraid he would be lost at sea and wanted to make sure that his family would have property. Bragg was indeed lost at sea, and his son Gary Bragg (1881- 1954) ultimately became sole owner. He named the property The Cedar Grove Inn, and began renting rooms to hunters and fishermen, and had several small cottages built for rentals. Navy personnel rented these during World War ii. Gary Bragg sold the property to Warwick T. and Margueritte Boos in 1951. They renamed it The Sound Front Inn and operated an inn here until the 1970s. At Margueritte’s death in 1995/. David Senseney inherited the house and  made significant repairs. It was converted to a rental cottage, and sold, in 2022 to  Scott and Missy Harrell. This is believed to be one of the oldest houses on the island, and one of the earliest inns.

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Odd Fellows Lodge - Island Inn. 1901, 2020s. 

The 2-story gable-front structure was built in 1901 as the Odd Fellows Lodge on the opposite side of the road, on land purchased from James W. and Zilphia Howard. The second floor housed the lodge and the bottom floor was the island's first “consolidated” public school. In the 1920s the lodge was dissolved, and the building was sold to Benjamin B. O'Neal (1880-1939) who had it moved to its present location. Between 1939-41, O'Neal sold the property to Robert Stanley Wahab (1888-1967). In 1942 the first floor was converted to a coffee shop, and the upstairs became a naval officers' club called The Crow's Nest. In 1948 Wahab had several former Navy barracks moved to the west side of the building to create a dance hall. In the 1950s he added a 2-story wing with a dining room on the first floor and guest rooms upstairs to the east side. The next owner was Doward Brugh, who renamed it the Island Inn. Since then, it changed hands several times and was ultimately purchased by the Ocracoke Preservation Society with help from the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, other foundations, and private donors. After being flooded during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 the badly-damaged additions were demolished, the building was elevated, and is now being restored.