Indian Mound Cottage is Restored, by Andrea Marroquin
William and Almira Rockefeller’s spacious vacation home on Jekyll Island, Georgia will soon be receiving callers for the first time in quite awhile.
Indian Mound Cottage was built in 1891 as a winter retreat for Gordon McKay but was purchased by the Rockefellers in 1905. William Rockefeller, brother to John D. Rockefeller was a charter member of the Jekyll Island Club beginning in 1886. It was William and Almira Rockefeller who oversaw the additions and renovations that gave Indian Mound Cottage its present day appearance.
In recent months, the cottage has been thoroughly restored, inside and out, from the roof on down. Now the ambitious project is finally nearing completion.
John Hunter, the Director of Historic Resources for the Jekyll Island Authority, manages one of the largest ongoing preservation programs in the Southeast, caring for Jekyll Island’s 34 historic buildings. Indian Mound Cottage was funded from the capital improvement budget of the Jekyll Island Authority. “The preservationists with JHC from Peachtree City have accomplished a mighty task with this 12,000-square foot structure,” Hunter said.
During the project, workers replaced the cedar-shake roof as well as the airconditioning system. They repainted the exterior shingle siding and trim. They painstakingly scraped, patched, repaired, primed and painted the porch railings, deck, columns, and balconies. They industriously repainted all of the interior walls and ceilings, as well.
“Great care has been taken to retain the many unique details and craftsmanship inside the house, from the banister, to the molding, to the mantelpieces,” Hunter commented.
Period-inspired carpeting in historic colors and patterns, a contribution from the Friends of Historic Jekyll Island, will also be newly installed throughout the entire second story.
The newly restored home serves as a wonderful backdrop for the museum’s period furnishings, its lithograph portraits of William and Almira Rockefeller, and the many documented stories of the family’s visits to the island that bring the house to life and stir the imagination.
Gretchen Greminger, the Curator of the Jekyll Island Museum, reported that some interesting architectural finds were located during the course of the restoration process. Work crews came across original plaster remnants, some original shingles dating to the McKay period of the house, and notably a George Cowman signature. “The George Cowman signature was found on one of the wall studs inside the wall in Almira’s bedroom. George Cowman was the contractor that did the Rockefeller additions,” Greminger explained. “Given that we have been working to restore this structure to the way Cowman first made it look for the Rockefellers, I believe that gives us a very real and direct link to the man who wrote his name here,” Greminger reflected. “I like to think he would be happy with what we have done.”
Members of the public wishing to see Indian Mound Cottage newly restored can look forward to that opportunity. Indian Mound will soon reenter the cottage rotation in the Jekyll Island Museum’s daily tours of the historic district.
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Tags: indian mound cottage on jekyll island, jekyll island history, jekyll island museum, national landmark historic district
