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299 Hwy 101 Beaufort, NC 28516 252.728.4611 countyhome@embarqmail.com
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History Lesson 101: The Carteret County Home Bed and Breakfast, Beaufort's most unique accommodation, is like no other B&B in all of the Crystal Coast offering the best of both a B&B and a country inn. It is uniquely charming with ten large rooms that are homey, comfortable and private. No priceless antiques and no shared baths. AND! It's the only B&B and private home that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. No small feat! Come ask us why!!
The structure has served the test of time having survived numerous hurricanes and years of neglect. It is still standing and solid. Its design is practical displaying the stark simplicity of a serviceable institution built to last. The main house (where we live!) is an I-type structure with a two-story center section patterned after the hall and parlor plan. It has yellow pine weather boarding which was milled locally. What were once call the "dormitory rooms" extend from the center section, eight to a side with 300 hundred feet of connecting porch running along the entire length. It's the long white building with the green roof!
The Carteret County Home is one of the few county homes still standing east of the Mississippi. Before the days of welfare and social security, communities took care of their own. When families were down on their luck, the "county home" provided them with room and board. This did not mean it was a free ride. To qualify for residency, tenants had to give up all worldly goods and were expected to help tend crops and to maintain the building and grounds. Applicants had to examined by the county doctor and be found "physically unable to support himself."
The County Home was officially opened on June 1, 1914. The original structure contained four rooms for the caretaker in what is now the main 2 story structure and six dormitory style rooms for the residents. These rooms measured 12’x13’and contained no more than a bed and small parlor stove. The small rooms had plastered walls, heart of pine floors, brick chimney and wooden V-groove ceilings and one window and door. There was no indoor plumbing at this time. In 1917, four additional rooms were added . An extension off the main house center section was also built which served as an infirmary where the county physician took care of the residents’ medical needs. (It's now our kitchen!)
When the Social Security Act was ratified in North Carolina in 1937, there were 14 inmates still living in the county home. The home became economically unfeasible to operate when the number of tenants dwindled to seven. It was closed in 1942 and was the 34th Home in the state to shut down. In the summer of 1943, the County Home re-opened to house 150 farm laborers working the fields for the war effort. Later, it was purchased and the twenty small dormitory style rooms were combined to make three-room apartments that were used until the mid-60's when it was once again closed. Left abandoned until the early 1980's, the building suffered and soon became an eyesore.
Luckily, new owners saw its potential as an inn and began the long renovation process. Although they were not able to complete their vision, it was because of their efforts to save the building physically and to preserve its historical value that the building is now registered on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only three with such a designation in all of Carteret County.
Abandoned once again, the property changed hands in 1996 and the new owners, Terry and Nan O'Pray, were able to look beyond its deteriorated condition to also see a building perfect for an inn.
After three years of complete renovation, Terry and Nan have converted the original 20 tenant rooms into 10 two-room suites, each with kitchenette, bath, TV/VCR, telephone and private entrances - one leading to the front porch complete with rocking chairs and the other opening to the back deck and landscaped and award winning grounds. Each suite is individually designed with comfortable, colorful decor in keeping with its classic Down East architecture. The original floors and ceilings have been saved. New white paint and a shiny green tin roof bring back the original exterior colors.
As for acquiring this ol' house, Terry and our good friend, Al Pendorf, take full responsibility. Beside having to live in a construction site for the three year renovation project, I am glad they had the vision to see the potential of this building and to save a historically significant structure from total ruin. Beaufort loves its heritage and historic buildings and we are proud to have been able to save one of its home of history.
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