An old house at the site of the former Hicks Wharf in Cardinal has gotten a major facelift from its new owners, Bert and Diane Cole.
Bert Cole, who came to Mathews from Shenandoah in March 2023 and lived in an on-site trailer as he renovated the newly-purchased home, said he destroyed the house and redid it.
“I tore it all apart—took it down to the studs,” he said. “I hauled off seven 30-yard dumpsters of plaster and lath.”
The plaster was in such bad shape it couldn’t be saved, he said, and there was no trim to hold onto. All 33 of the windows had to be replaced, and he elevated the home, he said, so it’s now 38 inches higher than before.
But Bert didn’t want to take away all of the home’s historic character. Hicks Wharf was one of the last wharfs used during the steamboat era, and he said the house, situated at the end of the road, was built for the owner’s son, who was returning home from the Civil War. It has been used variously as an oyster house, a post office, a store, and other businesses at the dock, he said.
The house is actually a composite of three separate structures, said Bert, explaining that the front and back portions were once the main house and the summer kitchen, while the center portion was a house built later in Norfolk as part of an exhibition of home building techniques and subsequently moved to the site.
A major change to the exterior of the home was the addition of spacious first-and-second-story covered verandas on the eastern side of the house, which faces the East River. The house already had a large front porch, characteristic of the era, but it faced the road and the neighbor’s property. The ceilings of all the porches are painted a color called “haint blue,” said Diane. The color originated in the deep South and was thought to keep spirits away, she said.
Inside, Bert said he preserved the original staircase, but removed it and turned it around so the bottom step is accessible from the foyer directly inside the front door. There were no fireplaces in the home, just wood stoves, he said, so he installed six gas fireplaces, one in each of the main rooms and bedrooms.
The front two rooms are the living room and a large office, which contains a Murphy bed for guests. Directly behind this portion of the house and accessible from both the foyer and the office is the cozy family room, which has double doors opening onto the first-floor veranda. The Coles said it’s the room where they spend most of their time.
At the back of the house is the large eat-in kitchen. It was once two separate rooms, but Bert said he removed the wall separating them to open the space. He said when he gutted the rooms, he found there had been a fire there at some time in the past, and he had to “beef up” the charred support beams.
The kitchen was completely modernized, with cabinets lining two walls to provide plenty of space for storage and appliances. The gas stovetop has six regular burners and a two-burner griddle, with pots and pans stored underneath in wide, deep drawers. A farm-style sink sits under a sunny window on one side of the room, while the other side has two windows in the dining area, plus a Dutch door with divided lights in the top, built as a surprise for Diane, who had always wanted one. The floor is aged-looking brick.
An extra-large center island allows for seating on two sides, with storage for seldom-used items tucked underneath an overhang. The other two sides contain cabinets and a built-in microwave and small under-counter refrigerator for drinks.
Upstairs are three spacious bedrooms opening off a wide landing. Each has a fireplace and a seating area in addition to the bed and dresser. The two front bedrooms share a modern bathroom with a glassed-in shower. The bedroom on the east side of the house has a door that opens onto the end of the upstairs veranda.
The master bedroom, located directly over the family room, has a corner fireplace and a door with full divided lights that opens onto the center of the veranda. The canopy bed sits in front of a window that is covered by a handmade screen that Bert built to provide a finished appearance.
Opening off the back of the master bedroom is a large multipurpose area containing a laundry closet, a walk-in closet in attic space over the former kitchen, and a modern master bath with a two-sink vanity and a spacious tiled shower with built-in seating.
Diane said that Bert did the entire project without written plans. Instead, she said, “it’s always in his head.” Bert said he knows exactly what he wants to do with a home renovation from the beginning, and, except for slight changes due to unexpected circumstances that are always part of any renovation, it always turns out the way he envisioned it.
“He sent daily pictures of what was going on,” said Diane, who remained at their mountain home during the renovation process. “Some days I was not too impressed. Other days, I said, ‘Wow!’”
Bert said he had a conversation with the house on the first day, telling it, “I’m going to make you the grandest lady on the river.”
“And she might not be the grandest,” he said, “but she’s a close second, I bet.”
While his son Tim, who lives in South Carolina, and his construction team from River Run Cabinetry worked on the project, Bert said he also hired local contractors to help out, including J.T. Custom Painting, which did a lot of the demolition and painting, Whitley Electric and Stephen Bennett, who did the porches.
The Coles started out their marital journey in Easton, Maryland, then moved to Annapolis, then Northern Virginia, and finally the Shenandoah Valley. In moving to Mathews, they said, “We traded the mountains for the water.”
Diane worked in the hotel industry in catering and sales before Bert convinced her that “if you can sell space, you can sell kitchens,” and she went to work in the family business, both designing and selling kitchens.
Bert said he wouldn’t have a new house, even if somebody offered to build him one. He said, “In order to do something like this, you have to love old houses.”