Obici House renovations continue

After more than a year of work, a renovation and expansion at the historic Obici House continues.

Lessee James R. “Ronnie” Rountree hopes the work will be done by the end of this year, he said. On Thursday, contractors were working on the front of the building, while others were surveying for the addition of the back porch and kitchen areas, which had to be removed because they were in poor condition, Rountree said.

“I’ll be tickled when I finish it,” Rountree said. “We’ve really taken a love to this project. It’s just taking time.”

Restoring the circa-1920s Italianate home built by Suffolk benefactor and Planters Peanut founder Amedeo Obici and his wife Louise has become a monumental task. The mansion is located by the 18th-green’s prime Nansemond River waterfront at Sleepy Hole Golf Course. For many years, it was subjected to the ravishments of time and weather.

The historic house was caught in the middle of an emotional battle last year to save the historic site, with several groups — Rountree included — submitting proposals to restore and reuse the building.

In the end, the home was leased to Rountree in January 2010, with the understanding that he would renovate it and use it for a special events venue, pro shop and golfers’ lounge. The city owns the golf course and the home.

Rountree estimated about 85 percent of the renovation to the front of the home, including the porch, has been completed. A new roof, similar in appearance and material to the old one, was specially ordered and installed. Contractors, he said, took about three months to remove 11 coats of paint from the front porch columns, repaint and reinstall them, along with the caps on the columns.

New siding boards were specially milled to get the same width of those that were on the house originally, Rountree said.

Inside the home, some rooms are in better shape than others. The dining room sustained “probably the least amount of damage,” during its neglect, Rountree said. The back wall of the parlor area had to go, because it was rotted.

The kitchen and back porch, Rountree said, were so badly damaged, they had to be demolished completely, but other rooms only need fresh wood where badly-rotted sections had to be cut out. New molding has been painstakingly matched to its surrounding pieces and much of the old molding lies in a stack of numbered pieces waiting to be put back on the walls from which it had been taken down.

The interior fixtures, including several stained-glass windows and distinctive chandeliers, have been removed for refurbishing and safekeeping, Rountree said. They’ll be restored to their original spots once all other renovations are complete.

Upstairs, contractors removed the wall between two bedrooms.

“Now we can utilize this as one big room,” Rountree said.

Likewise, the wall between the master bedroom and Mrs. Obici’s breakfast nook has been removed. Both changes are intended to make the home more user-friendly for event hosts and guests, Rountree said.

But there are some touches left because they were always that way. The sash weights in the windows remain, as do the bathtubs.

“We’re not going to use the bathtub in here, but I wanted to keep it here because it was here,” Rountree said.

Because it will be used by the public, the house must be accessible, so Rountree will be required to install an elevator and wheelchair ramp. The elevator will go on the back of the house, and the wheelchair ramp will begin on the side and wrap around to the back.

The new back porch will become the golfers’ lounge, and the pro shop will be located in the basement.

Rountree said it has been difficult, time-consuming and expensive to match all new materials to the old ones.

“It’s been actually more expensive than what I thought for,” he said. “This is not my cup of tea.”

However, Rountree said, he ultimately agreed to do the project because City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn insisted upon saving the house.

“She was so adamant she wanted to keep it,” Rountree said. “They just didn’t have the money to spend on it. She went probably the extra mile to save this thing.”