CARTERET COUNTY — A house renovation underway in Carteret County will showcase more than a building transformation when the project is featured on national television this summer.
A waterfront home that has stood in the Down East community of Atlantic since the 1800s is now the subject of the seventh season of DIY Network’s Blog Cabin, an interactive home-building television series.
Viewers can vote online to help select various design elements for the renovation and also enter a sweepstakes to win the newly remodeled cottage.
The renovation is featured on the website at DIYNetwork.com/BlogCabin. When the new season premieres in July, there is also information about Carteret County and Down East revealed.
“I think it’s good for Down East and all of coastal North Carolina,” Down East resident Danny Harper said. He doesn’t have any part in the renovation underway but said he and his wife, Faye, will help as production assistants during the last four weeks of the project.
He said the show will highlight an area that many people know little about.
Down East Carteret County, a string of unincorporated communities at the east end of the county, remains relatively undeveloped and still holds to its fishing heritage and traditions of boatbuilding and decoy carving.
The house itself is a piece of that heritage, weathering the years along Core Sound and serving as home to generations of the Robinson family.
According to a history provided by Jay Bumpus of Beaufort, whose late wife, Evelyn Clyde Harris, was a family member, the property was originally owned by Uriah Robinson and sold by his sons Mason and Uriah to their brother John Bryan Robinson in 1892 for $50.
John Robinson, a local fisherman, married Beulah Benton Styron from the nearby community of Stacy and the couple settled on the three acres to raise their family.
Initially a one-room cabin with detached cook’s shed, the house expanded upward and outward as the family grew, and improvements and additions were made as the home passed among family members.
The next transition for the 1,600-square foot, four-bedroom cedar shake cottage will now be a full renovation into a coastal retreat.
The coastal division of Andrew Roby Inc., which has an office in Atlantic Beach, is general contractor for the Blog Cabin project.
Robbie Davis said they have are still in the early stages of the renovation and just completed the rough-in. Along the way, he said, a lot of the work will include local subcontractors.
“It’s a great project,” he said. “It’s good for everyone; it’s good for Andrew Roby, and we’re excited to be a part of it. (DIY representatives) have been wonderful to work with.”
Follow the renovation through the Blog Cabin website, which includes a project blog, history of the house, renovation plans, construction site reports, a cabin cam and information on voting.
There’s still time to vote on several design features. Through Wednesday, voters selected features for the main living area on the first floor. Beginning today, viewers can vote for outdoor features.
There are also two sweepstakes.
Enter the Cabin Comforts sweepstakes between April 4 and May 17 for a chance to win a duplicate set of amenities chosen for this year’s Blog Cabin.
The main sweepstakes and chance to win the renovated house will be announced later.
You can reach Jannette Pippin at 910-382-2557 or jannette.pippin@jdnews.com.