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The trees remained a vital part of the property.
“We developed an interior pedestrian sidewalk that ran midblock from Third to Fourth
that engaged those two trees,” Hipp says. “Those trees just create a wonderful outdoor
space. It’s a place where you sit and read a book.”
Before starting the projects, Spetrino gave each new building a mini, manufactured history.
“I would write a one- to two-page story about each building,” he says. “Who would
have gone there, who would have lived there, what it would have been used for. I was try-ing
to create nostalgia.”
The story became the template for the design for Laurel Oaks and Brooklyn House, a
square, mixed-use building constructed with coal-fired brick in homage to the days when
steam locomotives transported goods to and from the port.
The inspiration for Brooklyn House came from Daniel Reitchen, whose family owned a
furniture store on the corner of Red Cross and North Fourth.
“He told me that everything in that area was always covered in soot,” Spetrino says. “Until
he visited a cousin in the country, he assumed everyone had soot on everything. He was talk-ing
about how the soot would stain the brick and that’s where the idea came from to see if we
could find a manufacturer that used coal to fire the brick.”
Spetrino hired architect Michael Kersting and told him the inspiration for the design.
“He wanted it to take on the classic, urban brick building that looked like it had sur-vived
from a past time,” Kersting says.
Laurel Oaks was ready for occupancy in the spring of 2003, followed by Brooklyn House
in the fall of 2004. The residential properties quickly attracted tenants. With the gamble of
investing in a neglected area paying off, more buildings followed. Modern Baking Co. was
finished in 2006, followed by The Weldon in 2007.
Above: Brooklyn House, a mixed-used building completed in the fall of 2004, is constructed
with coal-stained brick, evoking memories of the days when rail was king in Wilmington.
Left: Laurel Oaks, a residential building finished in the spring of 2003, is built on the site of
an old junkyard.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Before starting the
projects, Spetrino gave
each new building a
mini, manufactured
history. “I would write
a one- to two-page
story about each build-ing.
... I was trying to
create nostalgia,”
he says.
buildings of distinction