A Living Example
The Rumrunner's Compound

A Development Consulting Story

A couple of years ago, we, at the predecessor company for Blue Waterfront, were approached by a woman from a well-known prominent, local family. She was getting divorced and the division of assets included what she described as a small cottage that had been used - mostly by her husband - as a hunting lodge where he and his buddies could hunt geese and fish in the Inland Bays. A site visit, and some due diligence with the train of title, and an old survey, revealed that the property had been in the family since 1935. The location was tucked away on a sheltered cove, where a fresh water creek ran into the estuary before it flowed into one of the Inland Bays. Accessed from a long dirt road off the main highway in the western part of the county, the place was more like a compound than a cottage.

The main building had a large bar covered in mother of pearl with brass and wood trim around the edges. It still smelled of cigars and polished leather. There were pine paneled rooms upstairs on the second floor and attached cottages connected by roof-covered gangways. One large outbuilding held a stable with stalls and garage openings. Because it was located in a crosswind directly off the Bay, the whole place smelled like salt and tidal marsh. Built in 1928, the property had been a midnight drop-off for large cache of illegal whiskey to be transported up-state. For a period, it had been a speakeasy with an elite membership that ran clear up to the State legislature and the Governor at the time. The land was about 5 acres with soaring pine trees to the south east and a hedgerow of cypress along the northern border.

Turns out it was a private oasis surrounded by Delaware Wildlife Refuge - a very private place. The family bought the property from the estate of the former owner who was killed during a raid by the Treasury agents in 1930. The building had sat vacant for 5 years.

We found a buyer who loved the location. An investment banker for Lehman Brothers in Manhattan, he was an avid sportsman. He was divorced and loved fishing and duck hunting. Several of his partners shared the same interests. The first time I showed him the property, it was early morning. As we drove into the place, we chased off two white-tailed deer chewing the branches of some pear trees along the road. A great Blue Heron was fishing down near the dock, and lifted off from the tidal marsh as we drove up.

Immediately my buyer saw the Rum Runner’s compound as a private sports club for him and his friends. After the purchase we worked with a design engineering firm.

Planning and design: The plan was to tear down the smaller cottages and expand the main building upward, so that two stories stood in a symmetrical center with 1st floor wings north and south housing more modern accommodations. The buyer kept the bar, centered in a great room, raised the ceilings to 30 feet to air it out a bit with large windows looking east over the water. At least that was the initial plan. We found out that just getting started was going to be a bit more difficult.

Survey: The surveyor was able to find all points on the parcel, even two iron stakes buried in the marsh, and below water at high tide. From the highway, there was a shared easement with the State of Delaware - fifty feet wide. So a paved and curbed entrance off the highway and an asphalt road would be a cost shared with the State.

Wetlands Delineation: All but a small knob in the center of the marsh and the westernmost two acres of the property were classified wetlands. Even though rarely watered, the lands showed evidence of wetland fauna and FEMA maps indicated that the eastern property near the water was all below the hundred year flood plain. Luckily a dock was grandfathered with the previous owner but DNREC required that the location of the dock be moved from the north of the parcel to center on the high knob in the wetlands.

They also required a raised walkway 6 feet above the ground from the house to the dock - a distance of nearly 150 feet. Turns out that the eastern tidal flats, although they were rarely wet, were covered with a species of hermit crab. I saw the crabs by kerosene lamp one night. Colorful creatures with one oversized orange and yellow claw, they lived in the mud around the base of the reeds and came out only at night. They were noisy too - like cicada in the 17th year of the cycle.

Environmental Studies: Other than the main building and the stables, none of the buildings had any historical significance. But an old plat from county records showed a family burial plot just along the southern border of the property - near the State Wildlife Refuge. The plot belonged to a branch of the Wilson Family that had died out. State laws required that the buyer place a perimeter fence around the plot and give public access just in case some long-lost branch of the Wilson’s showed up to pay homage.

Water & Sewer: The surveyor had found an ancient cesspool on the site, which was rendered obsolete and illegal, once we started construction. The well was working fine with the same brown water that had served the property since 1928. Lucky for my buyer, a private water and wastewater utility had main lines in the easement along the highway, out at the entrance to the parcel. So for the cost equivalent to a new septic system and a well the property could be hooked up with fresh water and sewer.

Permitting process: Once environmental studies were completed, the design firm filed for the appropriate permits with the State of Delaware for construction of the walkway and the dock, and with the Sussex County Planning & Zoning for the ingress and egress road and building permits for the renovation.

Construction: We contracted with a local builder who worked through the winter. The finished product looked like - well it looked like a hunting lodge, with cedar shingles, big tall windows and a red metal roof. I went to a party for the house warming. The great room was grand with its 30 foot ceilings and chandeliers. A large fireplace, 8 feet high and 6 feet deep, had replaced the space formerly held by the warehouse door, where the bootleggers had used wagons to cart the wooden cases of distilled spirits from the dock into the Speakeasy. The builder had brought the bar back to life, preserving the inlaid mother of pearl, brass rail and oak corbels that cantilevered the massive slab of wood that was the bar, out into the room. There were tall leather stools along the rail. The place smelled of expensive cigars, polished leather and whiskey, just as it had 80 years ago.