Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

Screwpile-style architecture at the Hampton, Virginia, Maritime Center

water are entirely glass, but from the landside, the home appears to be an authentic screwpile lighthouse. A clear-tube pneumatic elevator runs from the main level to the lookout room, offering a view across Mobjack Bay and the Chesapeake Bay. Cooke and Andrews insisted on authenticity and quality: no drywall in the house and no nails—all screws. The son of a sawmill operator, Cooke appreciates good wood, so the flooring is 200-year-old heart pine from the Boston area, and the deck railings are 200-year-old cypress from Florida. “I love this being something I did that is going to be here forever and suits the property so well,” Cooke said as he gazed over the waterfront from the second level of his new screwpile home.

Screwpile-style residence on Virginia’s Eastern Shore

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