HANDS ON THE PAST, EYES ON THE FUTURE

It’s interesting to speak with new residents in Edenton and ask that special question, “How did you find Edenton”. Everyone has an interesting story on their search, journey and eventually planting of new roots in town.

One day a few years back Angela Sikes found the video, ‘Tales of an Educated Debutante’ by Adrian Wood on You Tube. Sikes, an interior designer was living in Wake Forest, in a big house.  An empty nester she had a dream to redo one more house. The video, Wood’s Golf Cart Tour Around Town, triggered Sikes'  interest. The next day she headed for what would soon become her new home. Her first stop was the Edenton Coffee Shop.

During coffee she met realtor David McCall and she was treated to one of McCall’s knowledgeable tour of Edenton houses, some available, some historically not.  

Eventually, after making the decision to move Sikesfound a house not on the market but was supposedly vacant for the past seventeen years. After a lot of digging, she was able to obtain the home in October,2022 when Covid restrictions where just ending.  

Sikes was looking for a project and one might say she found one. However, some might have looked and had other thoughts about the house at 102 West Carteret St.

While it was a golf cart video propelling Sikes to town, the historic metal hinges on the original wooden doors and the potential of the once beautiful staircase bannister that secured her steps to Edenton.  

She purchased the old home that many would have torn down but Sikes could see the strong bones of the house and the historic metal hinges on the heavy doors and the once beautiful staircase bannister, called to her.  She moved to Edenton in November, 2023 and rented a home while working on the house. She wore full gear, including a mask, overalls and goggles during the renovation.

“I had to hire people to clean it out because squatters had been living in it.  There was so much junk and old stuff piled in the house. I fell in love with the exterior, the bannister and old big door hinges and two detailed mantels”, said Sikes. “The ceilings were dropped and the doorways were small to keep the heat the rooms.  We took the ceilings back to their original tall height and open up an archway into the living area.”.

Seventeen years empty, the plastered walls were crumbling, all had to be redone. The home now has new insulation, new electric, plumbing and HVAC. In the 1980’s an addition was put on the back of the house for an in-law space. As you walk into the addition, the doors were newer and hollow. Sikes had a great grandmother, Mama-Dillie and her home was being torn down. She was allowed to take whatever she wanted from the house and see selected the old solid doors from Mama-Dillie’s house and used them in her new home.  

“There are very talented people in Edenton”, said Sikes.  “From the foundation, to the HVAC, to every wall, ceiling, including the electric and plumbing had to be replaced, it was a major project. It was a labor of love”.

The top to bottom revitalized home, will be on the Pilgrimage tour April 11 and 12. Sikes’ has a background in interior design and has had clients since 1997.  She also had three stores in Raleigh and Charlotte area for six years and has built her career and clientele by word of mouth. She now has clients in bothRaleigh and Edenton.  

“I loved my stores and business but when you have 26 employees, you end up running the business with payroll and operational activities and I missed the one on one with clients”, Sikes continued. “I am now a one women show and have clients here but go to Raleighonce a week to visit my ongoing clients.”

Determining the homes date of origintook an extensive amount of research, proving the homewas originally surrounded byfarm land.

However, by analyzing the high ceilings and wood details it was determined the home boasted features of a “town house’with an elegant feel.

The home hasthree bedrooms andtwo bathrooms and Sikes has added a powder room on the first floor, nicely tucked under the stairs. The interior is simply charming. The curved bannister has been restored along with the long list of other features in the home. Many of the  walls and ceiling are new.  

The home is reminiscent of a past era as many of the pieces in the home are antiques from Grandma Cora Lee Sikes’ favorite things.  Photosof the house portraying it in its recent, previous state just before it was purchased reminds Sikes how far she has come with the restoration and realizes there is more to come.  

Remember the dream of ‘one more restoration’ Sikes had before she purchased her current home? Well, she had a second dream and it included thoughts of the neighboring house that was also in disarray. Plus, as an investor in town, she felt her property value would be protected by purchasing and restoring the home next door. Sikes plans on selling the neighboring house once completely restored.  

Visitors on the Pilgrimage will enjoy seeing her large eat-in kitchen with its antique reproduction pull down light fixtures and tall kitchen cabinets. The entry is simple elegance.  The living area has a comfortable feel with Sikes’ personal memorabilia from family members, each with a story to tell. In researching her ancestry, Sikes found that she had family from the 1700’s that lived in Edenton and Bertie Counties. As Sikes puts it, “It must have been faith that I ended up with my beautiful home in Edenton”.

You might say the Edenton community is embedded in the Edenton Coffee Shop. On most mornings, while their locally roasted coffee is brewing behind the counter, worldwide and local ideas are percolating at the large community rectangular table currently situated at the rear left corner of the eatery.  

To better know Edenton is to pull up a chair by 7:30 a.m. anywhere in the place and suddenly you are in the middle of town.  

There is a historic connection between the Edenton Coffee Shop and the Edenton community which has been developed over many pounds of coffee. Visitors often become localsafter  meeting ‘regulars’ over coffee.

In 2003 Patrick and Belinda Flynn purchased the coffee shop from family members and renamed it The Edenton Coffee Shop. Belinda’s sister and brother-in-law had previously operated the Acoustic Cafe, a music venue coffee house. Once the Flynn’s purchased the business they decided to make a few changes. They enlarged the space and added food. The Edenton Coffee Shop eventually became a community hub. Years past, the business pivoted, added a variety of products and continued to expand its customer base.  

While the reputation of the shop grew, so did the relationship between Belinda and Gigi Charlebois, at the time the manager of the Christian Book Store across the street.  

It’s a guarantee Gigi didn’t know then, what she knows now, or what she was walking into. After many trips across Broad St. , Belinda and Gigi became close friends. Belinda, a graphic artist with a fine art background wanted to spend more time on art. She also wanted to focus more on developing products for the store and expanding the coffee roasting brand.

She encouraged Gigi to purchase the shop and in 2016 Gigi crossed Broad St. and decided to buy more than one cup of coffee. She bought the business.  

Belinda became Gigi’swholesale provider of the Roanoke Roasting Co, coffee, along with packaged coffee, baked goods and of course, cookies, amazingly delicious butter cookies.

When Belinda decided to transition into smaller canvas, cookie dough in all shapes and sizes, resembling characters, animals, icons and trinkets, far and wide. While Belinda’s artistic beauty brings each cookie, uniquely to life – they are all individually hand painted with the best ‘paint’ you’ve ever eaten – it’s Patricks grandmother’s recipe building a palate pleasing foundation for Belinda’s artwork.  

Currently Easter Egg and Bunny Cookies are available and while standing in line on Saturday, enjoy the colorful smiling bunnies staring up from behind cellophane packages. Seasonally Belinda makes sought after gingerbread cookies from her grandmothers recipe.  

If you’ve seen “Well behaved women rarely make history” tee-shirt in the shop, it was created by Belinda along with other logo shirts her silk screening workshop.  

While Roanoke Roasting is the Flynn’s brand, they have  

had fun choosing names for their varieties of different coffees after key historical sites in Edenton and the Albemarle Sound.  

The Flynn’s coffee beans are hand crafted, fair trade, sustainable, and part of the Rainforest Alliance. Aside from the cookies, there is a full house made bakery case each morning and a breakfast and lunch menu offering breakfast items from the kitchen or counter and a lunch menu of sandwiches and wraps.   

It’s the perfect example of a place where locals go visit and visitors go to feel local.  

It was a day celebrating community service as the Edenton Tea Party Chapter of the DAR recognized area volunteers and organizations for contribution to the community.  

DAR Regent Bonnie Thuma Henn welcomed the guests and honorees to St. Paul’s Parish House for the luncheon.  

“Good morning and welcome to our Annual May Awards Luncheon.  It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you as Chapter Regent. We will be recognizing the recipients of the Community Service Award, Community members and Chapter members in honor of their service to DAR and the community.”  

Henn went on to highlight the preservation progress taking place at the Cupola House.  

“The Excellence in Historic Preservation award is a Chapter award, recognizing a local organization that has demonstrated excellence in historic preservation.  This award is being presented this year to the Cupola House Association”, explained Henn. “We have all been following the story of the return of the historic woodwork sold to the Brooklyn Museum in 1918. While the sale marked the loss of this woodwork, it also marked the formation of North Carolina’s first community led preservation association.  Fast forward to today, we are recognizing the effort of the Cupola House Association and the return of this woodwork to its rightful place, at the Cupola House.” 

Vonna O’Neil, President of the Cupola House Association accepted the award.  Many Edentonians know or have seen Rae Ohlert strolling through town during special events dressed in period attire. Not only is she highly recognized during these events, she was also recognized last week at the celebration luncheon.“One of the stars of this celebration was Rae Ohlert and we are recognizing her today. The “Women in the Arts” is a National recognition award may be presented to a deserving member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in acknowledgement of her outstanding work in the arts,” said Henn. “For this year’s award, a photo montage representing the collection of historic costuming completed by Rae was reviewed by National Chair and National Vice Chairman.  Rae’s work in historic costuming was deemed worthy of this recognition. It is an honor to present this award to Rae with our thanks for all the amazing wearable works of art she shares as well as her talent in oration, song and crafts that elevate each of our events throughout the year.”The Tea Party Chapter also received high praise and accolades and many first place awards at the State Conference. Those recipients included Sally Francis Kehayes – 250thEvent Chair, Sandy Sperry– Grave Marking Chair, Clara King – Chaplain; Melanie Gibbs– Recording Secretary and Americanism Chair, Candace Roth–Registrar ;Anne Rowe – Historian, Celeste Maus   Librarian, Rae Ohlert– American Heritage Chair,  Bonnie Pierce – Community Classroom Chair, Lisa Laws– Conservation Chair,  Robin Mayer – Constitution Week Chair, Leatha Fisher–DAR Good Citizen Chair, Nancy Olver–DAR Magazine Chair, Cynthia Herlong – DAR Schools Chair,  Katherine Ingram -Service to America Chairman, Jean Kuchta, Pamela Oliviera, Martha Smith, Julie Elmore, Kim Gowager – Treasurer, Reva Hinson, Kay Caveney and Claudia Dodson."Today we are honoring those who were a part of bringing the Edenton “Tea Party Trolley” to life.  This 10-month continuing event captured the imagination of all… they transported visitors and residents alike to 1774 and we could truly imagine what it must have been like to be there with those brave 51 ladies and those who supported their cause," said Henn. The regent went on to introduce and honor Amelia Bond, Gena-Erin Copeland, Elizabeth Corker, Russell Corker, Kay Currin, Chris Grimes, Lisa Laws, Rae Ohlert, Anne Rowe, Nancy Sorensen, Kathleen Towers and Tommy Wood.New DAR members Nonna Smith and Sandra Williams took the new member oath closing out the ceremony,