Today's outing is at Carver's Creek State Park just outside Fayetteville NC. It is a new park, just having been transferred to the state by the Nature Conservancy in 2010 and opened to the public in 2013. About 1400 acres of the 4000 total acreage was the Colonial Revival winter estate of James Stillman Rockefeller and his wife Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller. James was the grandson of William Avery Rockefeller, co-founder of Standard Oil along with his brother John D. Rockefeller. Wife Nancy was granddaughter of Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew Carnegie. She grew up on Cumberland Island, Georgia where the Carnegies and Rockefellers both owned estates.
The property was acquired from the Rockefeller estate after his death in 2004. Some of the tenants were given lifetime leases to remain on the property. There is still one elderly couple residing in the park.
It was difficult for me to understand the attraction of this land to Mr Rockefeller. It is part farmland and Long Leaf Pine plantation. The mill pond was created in 1850 and has a solid stand of Cypress trees. During our tour of the estate, we learned James was stationed at Fort Bragg in 1937. I'm guessing that barrack life didn't suit him.
Walking trails are limited in the park. There is one heading out to a pier along the mill pond. Cypress trees encircle this end of the mill pond. Besides jogging the short trail and park road, the main activity here is fishing.
Tours of the estate are offered a few times throughout the year. I made prior arrangements to attend today's tour. Having arrived early, we walked the one short hiking trail along the pond. While waiting for the rest of the tour group to arrive, we annoyed resident fire ants. The small group of 5 arrives and is led by a local volunteer. Our tour begins, first with a warning about the peeling lead paint; "don't put any in your mouth". It sure looked tasty but I resisted.
Entering the house we are greeted with peeling paint, a vinyl floor which screams 1970s and Ceil Tex ceiling. Park staff had done work cleaning the panes of glass throughout the house, so they looked spiffy. First rooms were Miss Betty's quarters and the kitchen. Miss Betty seemed to run the household. She too, was given a lifetime lease to reside on the property. She has since passed. The kitchen looked like a typical 1970s era kitchen with dated appliances. Of course the Rockefellers rarely entered the kitchen and had little incentive to renovate, like they did in their living quarters.
Other than the kitchen and bathrooms, wood floors were throughout. Wood or beamed ceilings are in those rooms as well. Every room had a fireplace. The room above is the dining room. Each corner of this room had a string cross the corners where Mr Rockefeller hung wishbones from chickens. Saving wishbones was a British custom which became popular here as well. However, saving them did not convey good luck. They have to be pulled apart after drying by 2 people, one on each side. The one with the larger piece of the wishbone after it is broken, gets his/her wish. Wishbones on good luck post cards were popular in the early 1900's.
Here is the back of the house. Although as you approach the house from the state park entrance, this is what you see. The other side faced the mill pond.
Now we are looking at the front of the house. Two artillery shells flank the front door.
Our tour guides says the master plan for the park includes renovating the house, making it suitable for events and weddings. Where will that money come from? He doesn't know. Based on what I have seen, it appears very little has been done to the house in the last 25 years. The last renovation looks like it occurred in the 1970s. The fact that nothing has been done about the peeling lead paint, despite a dozen years of Nature Conservancy and State ownership, indicates even "band aid" repairs aren't being done.
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