Fixing Up An Offshore Lighthouse
By Sue Clark on Sep 16, 2007 in Lighthouses For Sale 
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The Virginian Pilot came out with a timely article on a fixer upper. An offshore, rundown lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay, the Middle Ground Light. Two years ago, it went up for auction from the GSA along with three others, and it was Bob Gonsoulin’s dream to own one. He persuaded his wife and inlaws to let him enter the online bidding for the decrepit but still active light. They claimed they went along as a lark, and to keep him from pouting. But he outbid the others, with a winning amount of $31,000.
It’s timely, since Fourteen Foot Bank has just been purchased by Michael Gabriel and will probably face many of the same problems that this family did. Fortunately, the Gonsoulins have understanding family members as coowners. From the story:
When the Gonsoulins first made it aboard and took a gander at their new purchase, they were shocked.
No one had lived on the light since it was automated in 1954. Over the decades, seagulls had taken up residence on every floor of the three-story, cast iron-and-brick relic. Their droppings were at least a 1/4 inch thick, and that didn’t count the rotting egg shells and other gag-inducing detritus that had to be painstakingly removed.
Windows were mostly broken out, so the gulls kept coming back until the families found or made replacements that could track the circular walls.
There was no electricity aboard the lighthouse, beyond a solar and battery system used to operate the navigational signals up top. And no fresh water.
A pair of 1,200-gallon cisterns in the “basement” were befouled and nearly dry. The steel roof that once fed rain into them was worthless for the task, its surface corroded into a sieve.
But the Gonsoulins and Billingsleys were undeterred. Between them, they had a passel of adult children, all either engineers or finishing up engineering school. And they had husbands and college roommates and friends willing to swap a weekend of muscle for the chance to experience life on a lighthouse.
The rest of this feature is a great read. Especially the part about having a sleeper sofa delivered by a company that stood by it’s promise of “Free Delivery Anywhere.” And don’t forget to view the audio slide show with some great photos of the lighthouse being rebuilt.
Lighthouse News hopes Mr. Gabriel takes heart from this tale of a seemingly hopeless undertaking. Because when the Gonsoulins and the Billingsleys are finished with this project, one more lighthouse will have survived the wrecking ball, and they will have a unique summer retreat.
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