Lighthouse A Unique Vacation Home

By Alex MacDonald

As conversation pieces go, they don’t get much better, or bigger. In October 2005, Robert ’72 and Joan Prokop Gonsoulin ’74 of Williamsburg, became the proud co-owners of a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse more than 100 years old.

Robert, along with his wife and her sister and husband, purchased the five-story, 1,200-square-foot Newport News Middle Ground Lighthouse at auction for $31,000. It sits a mile and a half from shore, halfway between Newport News and the Norfolk Naval Station (just west of the I-664 bridge over the James River).

Of the four lighthouses for sale that day, the Gonsoulins’ was the first to close, and ended up being the least expensive. According to Robert, a health physicist with the Virginia Department of Health, by the time bidding had closed, the final lighthouse sold for roughly $150,000.

That’s not to say the Gonsoulins didn’t spend a considerable sum in getting their lighthouse up to standard. The new owners devoted an estimated $150,000 of their own time and money to renovations, which they handled themselves with the help of Robert and Joan’s four sons, all of whom are engineers. They repainted the outside, added new windows, wiring and hardwood floors, and put in a new kitchen and bathroom.

Opened in 1891, the tower operated as a manned facility until 1954, when it was converted to an automated lighthouse. Since then, it had remained virtually vacant, although it is still in use as a navigation aid.

Lifelong sailing enthusiasts, the Gonsoulins are active volunteers with the Sea Scouts, a sailing club for high school-aged children. They use the lighthouse as a place to take the teens, as well as a unique family vacation home. With its panoramic views, the Gonsoulins and their visitors can get a bird’s-eye look at one of the busiest harbors in the country.“It’s a whole lot of fun,” Robert said. “When people ask you about it, you end up in a 30-minute conversation telling them the whole story.”