SALT & SOUL

A South Carolina family rescues and restores an early 1900s dock house and turns it into a lively overwater hangout

- BETSY CRIBB

When a ramshackle, century-old dock house on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, was first put up for auction, the owner-to-be wouldn't go anywhere near it. "My husband knows that if I see something historic, I'll fall in love," the homeowner says with a laugh. "At the time, we had young twins and had just completed a major renovation on our home, so I did not want a project."

But on the day of the auction, her husband called and convinced her to at least come take a peek at the old place. After all, it was only two blocks from their houseif nothing else, it was of neighborhood interest. But one glimpse inside the dilapidated wooden structure on the end of the splintering pier and, right on cue, she fell for its salty, storied past.

Sold.

The property had once belonged to Fort Moultrie, a garrison that first took shape on the island's southwest end during the Revolutionary War. The Quartermaster's Dock and Dock House were built much later, in the early 1900s, and served as a drop-off point for artillery and ferry riders brought over from Charleston. But when Fort Moultrie was deactivated in 1947, the dock buildings were turned over to the state, and though the structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, they sat unused, slowly falling into the creek.

"It was like [the house] had the wind knocked out of her sails," says designer LuAnn McCants, whom the couple hired to help with the restoration. "She was out of breath, and she just needed to be revived."

Together, they were determined to preserve the historic integrity of the overwater structure, while still making it a functional extension of the family's home. With this in mind, they decided to turn it into an easygoing indoor/outdoor hangout.