In the Spotlight: Currituck Heritage Village

Corolla is one of several beach towns located on the far end of the OBX. (See the area marked with dotted red lines at the top of the map to the right; click the map for a larger image.) One of the town’s alternative attractions to its wildly popular beaches is Currituck Heritage Park — home to not only the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, but also to the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education and the Whalehead Club.

After visiting the lighthouse (post to come), we wandered over to see the rest of the park. Our intent was to check out the wildlife education center, but as luck would have it, the place was locked up tight (closed on Sundays). So, we shifted gears and went for a meandering stroll that took us around the grounds of what was once the estate — playground might be a better word — of Edward Collings Knight Jr. and his wife Marie-Louise LeBel. Following their death, Ray T. Adams purchased the estate for $25,000 (got a great buy as you will see if you read on), converted the residence to a hunting club, and thus the Whalehead Club was born.

Although there is a humpback whale skull just outside the wildlife education center, it is a recent addition () and is not the source of the name for the Whalehead Club.

During the latter part of the 19th century, wildfowl hunting conditions in the Currituck Outer Banks was excellent and private hunting clubs owned most of the land. One such club was the Lighthouse Club, which was built in 1874. In the 1920s, the Knights, a wealthy couple that had made their fortune in sugar and railroads, purchased the club property.

Historic photos of the Knights and their estate from signage in the park.

Wanting the property to be known as a private residence, they tore down the old club house, and for $383,000 built a luxurious home, dredged the waterway around the house, and renamed the property Corolla Island. The couple resided here during the hunting season for nine years (1925-1934) until Mr. K became too ill to visit. (Remember how the estate was purchased for $25K after their death; the heirs obviously took a bath on that sale!)

The restored mansion with inset historic photo from park signage.

The Knights had a lot of guests stay with them at the estate — over 200 of them between 1922-1934. One guest was a repeat-visitor, staying nine months on one occasion. (I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. K felt at some point that she had overstayed her welcome?)

As there was no public road access to Corolla Island, the Knights and their servants traveled 33 miles (53 km) down the sand from Virginia Beach before crossing one of a pair of bridges that spanned the waterway around the estate. Similarly, guests had to either drive on the beach to get to the estate or arrive by boat.

Left: Sketch of the estate showing the two bridges linking Corolla Island to the mainland.
right: the remaining bridge before it was restored (photo taken in 1992).
[historic photos from signage on the grounds]

The surviving bridge … post-restoration.

The Knights used the finest materials of the time to build their 21,000 ft² (1,950 m²) home. In addition to many Art Nouveau features, the house had a copper roof that showed the patina of time, cork floors, corduroy walls, and Tiffany lighting fixtures. Also on the grounds was the first-ever swimming pool on the Outer Banks.

The swimming pool lives only in historic images.

Since hunting wildfowl was the primary reason that drew guests to Corolla Island, the Knights also built a boathouse on the grounds. The gracefully proportioned structure had a sloping roofline and was painted an unusual pink color. Decoys and hunting skiffs were stored inside, along with corn to lure the waterfowl into gunning range. On the side of the boathouse were hooks to hang and cure the day’s catch.

Pink is not a color that I associate with hunting.

Ray T. Adams, who purchased the estate four years after the Knights both passed away in 1936, dreamed of opening a hunt club where he could host potential real estate investors, politicians (including Dwight Eisenhower), and public figures (including boxing champion Jack Dempsey). Thus, he changed the name from Corolla Island to Whalehead Club, the name by which the mansion is now known.

I’m a sucker for reflections, but the light breeze is working against me.

During World War II, when the US coastal waters became the hunting ground for German submarines that sank hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping cargo, the US Coast Guard leased the club from Adams. From here, the Coast Guard rescued seamen and conducted beach patrols. The house also served as a receiving station for recruits awaiting their assignments following basic training. After the war, the Whalehead Club was demobilized and returned to Adams.

Following Adams’ death in 1957, the Whalehead Club saw service as a summer school for boys. Then came the Cold War, during which the house was used as a rocket fuel testing facility.

No sign of the holes in the roof and the snakes in the flooded basement — that was the
condition of the mansion at the time Currituck County purchased the club.

Now fully restored, the Whalehead Club is a popular wedding locale … I can certainly see why. House tours are available everyday, except Sunday … and wouldn’t you know it, we were there on a Sunday! (Those interested in the architecture of the house can find more information here.)

By the way, if you’re curious as to why the club was named Whalehead, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer. I don’t think Adams chose the name because he thought of his potential real estate investors as whales (in much the same way casinos think of their big spenders). I did send an email to the club asking the question; we’ll see if they respond.