Simon & Emma O'Neal House

Yesterday a reader asked for an update on the Simon & Emma O'Neal House. You may remember this is the traditional island turn-of-the-20th-century house that Ocracoke Preservation Society purchased, and then re-sold with conservation easements. It is located across the street from the Assembly of God church. It is being rehabilitated to NC State Historic Standards.

Several weeks ago, Amy, Ed Norvell, & I had an opportunity to meet one of the new owners. He and his wife gave us a tour of the house. Workers were still re-framing interior walls, running electric wires, adding plumbing, and making other repairs, but much of the exterior work had already been completed.

Yesterday, I rode my bike down to the house and took a photo of the house from the street. It looks beautiful.

This is what the house looked like six months ago:

And here are some of the interior views that I took several weeks ago:

Congratulations to Will Purvis, Jamie McGaskill, their families, and their workers for the fine job of rehabilitating this wonderful old house! We are looking forward to seeing the work completed sometime in the near future.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an article by island resident, Crystal Canterbury, about her very first visit to Portsmouth Village, on the last day of 2014. You can read Part I here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news042115.htm.