Core 

 Banks 



Cottages 

 Rich in 

 History, 



Tradition 



B y Ann Green 

 Photos by Scott D. Taylor 



LEFT: The Burden Cottage was originally 



a lighthouse keeper's quarters. 



RIGHT: For years, the Cape Lookout 



Lighthouse has been a landmark 



for mariners. 



; soon as Wilson Davis pulls up in 

 his boat to the shoreline near his wooden cottage 

 on Core Banks, he steps back to a "different way 

 of life." 



If the wind is blowing right, he leaves the 

 door open to catch the sea breezes. 



Before sunset, he rocks on the front porch 

 and watches the clouds back up over the marsh 

 and the aquamarine waters of Core Sound on 

 Cape Lookout National Seashore. 



At night, he often lights the long, open 

 hallway with kerosene lanterns instead of 

 turning on the generator. 



"This place means everything to me," says 

 Davis. 'It is my family's history." 



The open hallway that runs throughout the 

 house has a long table covered with a red 

 checkered tablecloth where the Davis family 

 gathers for seafood dinners. The white walls are 

 decorated with several murals painted by family 



members. Scenes include fish and the beach 

 buggy "Hot Fire." 



"We used to have a red buggy," says 

 Davis. "My cousin Laura went in the beach 

 buggy, and it broke down. Then she painted it 

 'Hot Fire.' " 



Since the early 1950s, the beach cottage — 

 which is known as the Coca-Cola house because 

 the original owners held a soft drink franchise — 

 has been a gathering spot for various Davis 

 kinfolk. 



Harry T. Davis, curator at the former North 

 Carolina State Museum of Natural History, was 

 the first owner from the Davis family. 



"My Uncle Harry used to band falcons out 

 here," he says. "When he gave the house to me 

 and my cousin Warren Davis, he told us he was 

 getting rid of a pink elephant because the house 

 needs so much maintenance." 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 7 



