A couple of years ago, our family got the opportunity to purchase an old Buxton bungalow, making a lifelong dream of having a home on Hatteras Island come true in the process. Little by little, trying to be good stewards with all that God has blessed us, we have repurposed and refreshed what makes up our 1930s house and all that’s going into it.    

While painting and repairing the kitchen, we accidentally cracked the existing countertop — and my hunt for an affordable, period-appropriate replacement began. As I researched wood tops as a possibility, I stumbled on an ad for some old bowling lanes being sold by the linear foot. Who knew that solid maple butcher block was used for old bowling alleys?!

We purchased what we needed, sanded them down (with a floor sander!), then sealed them. We’re so pleased with how our hard work, and spending a small fraction of what new-material countertops would cost, has yielded such beautiful results! Each project, purchase, and item in our Buxton home has a wonderful story behind it — how it was found, made-over, or repurposed. But the neatest by far is our bowling lane countertop!