Romance is alive and well behind the regal doors of a stately Tudor mansion.
By D.J. Schroeder
HQ 2 | WINTER 1990
Could the lovely lrish nurse from Belfast and the distinguished Egyptian surgeon from Alexandria, who first met at London’s Royal Victoria Hospital, ever have imagined that they would someday marry and live in a castle in the hills of Huntington, W.Va.?
Hardly. Yet that’s exactly what happened.
Dr. Adel Ibrahim and his wife, Maureen, with their three children, Sherrine, 12, Mona, 8, and Adam, 6, live in splendor and cozy comfort in the former May estate on prestigious High Drive. They are surrounded by exquisite antiques, dozens of fine oriental rugs – including a gorgeous Tabriz – and an Egyptian rug Dr. Ibrahim imported from the palace of the Sultan Ali Basher “with the sand still in it,” as Mrs. Ibrahim puts it. She had to have it cleaned several times to get the debris out.
The entrances, both outside the front hall, are imposing. Mrs. Ibrahim herself found them impressive when she first saw the mansion. Now, however, it’s ‘Just home” to the family. And, after seeing the decor of each of the 28 rooms, a visitor senses that homey atmosphere as well.
The Ibrahim home was built in 1926 by local entrepreneur Edwin P. May. The original grounds encompassed most of the acreage now devoted to other Spring Drive homes. One of these homes is located over what used to be a greenhouse that supplied fresh flowers for the main mansion.
The May estate has not experienced a history without disaster. A suspicious fire broke out on Christmas Eve in 1929, causing tremendous damage to the house. May, however, refused to abandon the location or rebuild according to a different plan. Instead, he reconstructed the house while remaining faithful to its initial design, choosing to expand and embellish rather than undertake radical alterations.
The Ibrahim drawing room includes a “semi-antique Steinway.” The piano was stained mahogany to match the British Honduras paneling in the house. The floors are Royal Plank oak.
“Because they’re textured,” Mrs. Ibrahim explained, “a man had to get on his hands and knees to strip the floors.”
A handsome Maitland-Smith Ltd. secretary’s desk in rich shades of orange and reds adorns one side of the main sitting room. It reflects the rich colors of a beautifully detailed oriental floor rug.
The scroll ceilings are a wonder. It took six men four days to paint the scroll ceiling in the sunroom alone. Many walls retain the original hand-painted scenes done in the 1920s. Bathroom fixtures are colored, a rarity at the time. Faucets are gold.
The mansion houses two safes – a smaller one on the first floor, and a massive one that extends almost from floor to ceiling in the master bedroom.
The master bedroom includes a fourposter bed and a beautifully restored, hand-painted chinoiserie mural on the wall.
The kitchen is waiting to be redecorated soon, but one thing in the kitchen won’t be changed: a set of buzzers which turn on when any doorbell in the residence rings. In one of the hallways, a set of lights come on when any light in the mansion is left on, including the lights in the garage.
Among the Ibrahim’s collection of fine china is an attractive grouping of Royal Albert Old Country Roses.
Outside is an enormous pond – complete with a fountain – full of hundi-eds of fish. The family swimming pool is 24′ by 46′, heated, and features both male and female bathhouses, each with two showers.
Inside, more aquatic relaxation can take place in the large hot tub and whirlpool located in a separate room.
Eight large bathrooms do justice to the elegance of the house, and a handy laundry chute is located on the third floor.
Additionally, the house includes several unique attractions, such as a garage with its own, built-in carwash, a central vacuum system and shoeshine kits that fold out of individual compartments in the walls.
No doubt about it. The Ibrahim’s have found and exquisitely decorated their English Country Home. And, for a couple who first met in ‘merry old England,’ it seems quite apropos. For them, romance is still alive in the ‘Castle on High Drive.’
