Whalehead Club facts for kids
The Historic Whalehead Club is a very large home, about 21,000 square feet, located in a quiet area facing the Currituck Sound in North Carolina, United States. It was designed by its owners, Edward Collings Jr. and Marie Louise Label Knight, and built between 1922 and 1925. This house is a great example of the Art Nouveau style, which was popular for its flowing lines and natural shapes.
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A Look Back: The Whalehead Club's Story
In 1920, Edward Collings Knight, Jr., who inherited a lot of money from sugar, railroads, and steamships, bought the land with his wife, Marie-Louise LaBel Knight. They named their new home "Corolla Island" because it was near the village of Corolla.
Building a Dream Home
The Knights built their house in a very isolated part of the Outer Banks. It sat right along the Currituck Sound, which is a perfect spot for birds traveling along the Atlantic Flyway. The area was famous for its many waterfowl. Even though it was isolated, the nearby Corolla village had important services like a post office, a general store, a church, and a school. The Knights' property was once part of a well-known hunting club, but their home was a comfortable getaway for them and their friends, not a club.
Construction of the house started in 1922 and finished in 1925. A builder from Norfolk, John Kelbaugh, managed the project. The house has 20 rooms spread across three floors. A six-foot-deep channel was dug by hand on the western side, making the house truly feel like it was on an island. The Knights brought many fancy items for their home, including custom-made Tiffany lamps with a water-lily design and furniture by the famous designer Louis Majorelle. The Knights lived at Corolla Island for nine seasons. After they both passed away in 1936, Mr. Knight's two granddaughters sold the large estate for much less than it was worth, as they had married into wealthy families in France.
What Happened Next?
After the Knights passed away, the home was used for many different things. During World War II, it became a place where the United States Coast Guard recruited new members. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was used as a private summer school for boys called Corolla Academy. Later, around 1964, a company called Atlantic Research Corporation bought the property and used it to test rocket fuel!
After being empty for over 20 years, Currituck County bought the house in 1992. They wanted to bring it back to its original beautiful state. Today, the Whalehead Club is fully restored and is open to the public as a historic home.
The Whalehead Club's Design
The Whalehead Club's outside and inside show off many Art Nouveau details. However, its long, shallow shape also reminds us of the arts-and-crafts style cottages that were popular in fancy suburbs during the 1920s. The house's unique curving roofs and gables look similar to old farm buildings from Mrs. Knight's childhood home in Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada. The house has a huge foundation for its 21,000 square feet, including a 135-foot-long basement with a special French drainage system and brass pipes for plumbing. The roof is covered with over 10,000 copper shingles, all cut and laid by hand.
Inside the Whalehead Club
First Floor Features
The first floor is shaped like an "L" and has wooden walls. These walls were chosen because they could handle the damp, humid coastal weather. In the main hall, the walls have a corduroy-like texture, made from special wooden panels fitted together. The floors are made of cork tiles, which helped reduce noise and keep the heat in. Beautiful Tiffany lily-shaped lights hang above the front door. The main entrance, called the Foyer, has many Art Nouveau details and doors with fancy European designs.
To the left of the hall, lit by more Tiffany Studio lights, is the library. The Knights used furniture from their previous homes to furnish Corolla Island. This social center of the house still has its original chandeliers and wall lights, along with Art Nouveau furniture by Louis Majorelle and a Steinway grand piano.
The dining room also has Art Nouveau designs. It has special pocket doors with Art Nouveau patterns and unique Tiffany globe lights shaped like water lilies, which were thought to be one of Mrs. Knight's favorite flowers. To match the lights, the wooden walls around the room have hand-carved lily designs.
The kitchen at Corolla Island was very modern for its time. It had a stove that could use both gas and coal/wood, two electric refrigerators (with motors in the basement), worktables, and two sinks. The kitchen's rose-colored tiles were added to honor their head cook, Mary Rose Alvernas. Large bay windows in the kitchen offer great views of the Currituck Sound.
The staff dining room was for the full-time servants who traveled with the Knights. Not much is known about its original look, except for its light-blue walls and one piece of furniture: a mission-style china cabinet and a gas stove. It's believed the Knights used simple, strong Mission-style furniture here.
The Gun Room, located between the formal part of the house and the servants' area, was a busy but practical room. It had a gun rack and a separate cabinet for valuable items and hunting supplies.
Edward Knight's Office was next to the Gun Room and the formal rooms. He likely used it for business. The office shows his many interests, including work, hunting, and drawing. It was a comfortable working space with a nice desk, a fancy cast-iron safe, chairs, and small drawings by Edward Knight himself.
Second Floor Bedrooms
The second floor has separate master bedrooms for Mr. and Mrs. Knight. Louise Knight's bedroom had a French style, with blue-painted furniture, matching tables, chairs, a folding screen, and a chaise longue that looked like French antiques from the 1920s. It had a private bathroom with a sink, mirror, toilet, bidet, and a claw-foot tub with separate faucets for fresh and salt water.
A door connects her room to Edward Knight's bedroom, and a shared porch connects both rooms. Edward Knight Jr.'s bedroom had a colonial style, reflecting his family's history. It had furniture inspired by the Colonial Revival period, including a tall bed with pineapple decorations, a nightstand, and old-fashioned wall lights.
There are four connected guest bedrooms, each decorated in a unique color based on the Art Nouveau movement. They are called the Lilac room, Green room, Pink room, and Blue room. Each room was comfortably furnished with mahogany furniture and decorations from the 1920s. Further down the hall were more rooms that served as living quarters for the full-time staff.
Third Floor Living Spaces
The third floor has more bedrooms for full-time staff, as well as a small apartment for Mr. Knight's trusted valet, Mr. Starkey. This room housed Starkey, his wife Polly, and their daughter Joan. It would have had a full bed, a child's bed, chairs, a folding screen, small closets, and a gas stove to heat the room in winter. The area around the gas stove had blue tiles, and the light fixtures were Tiffany glass with wavy, shimmering accents.
The Basement: A Strong Foundation
The 6,000-square-foot basement needed a special mix of soils and supports. Earth dug from the new boat basin and canals helped anchor the brick walls. With 18-inch-thick walls supported by steel beams, the basement was an amazing engineering feat. It was used for storage and services, with 16 rooms, including a wine cellar, a root cellar, and a laundry room with an electric washing machine. It also had bins that could hold 125 tons of coal for a hot water heater and a furnace, which sent heat up to the second floor. Today, the basement has exhibits that tell more about the history of the home and the times it was built.
