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Frankel's Folly: Former director of Körner's Folly marries a Körner, passes baton to new guy
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
Bruce Frankel, the new director, poses in what he hopes to bill as a corporate meeting room at Körner's Folly. Frankel has 15 years in the travel and hospitality business.
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Published: June 4, 2009
KERNERSVILLE -- Connie Martin's run as executive director of Körner's Folly ended after six years in storybook fashion.
Her work at the Folly introduced her to Jule Körner IV, the great grandson of Jule Gilmer Körner, the man who built what is billed as "the strangest house in the world.''
Love blossomed, and the couple was married, with Connie Martin Körner moving to live with Jule Körner, the last living descendant to bear the family name, outside of Washington.
Martin Körner, 53, who had lived in Kernersville all of her life, said her goal in leading Körner's Folly had been to make the attraction more widely known.
"I wanted to bring life into the Folly," said Martin Körner, who added that she never expected her job to bring her love, too.
She has passed the Körner's Folly baton to Bruce Frankel, whose 15 years in the travel and hospitality business -- he owns an online travel agency -- give him a good foundation for running the Folly. He said he's visited landmarks famous and obscure in his years in the travel business.
Frankel said he looks forward to building on Connie Martin Körner's work.
"At first the Folly was about the family who lived here. Then it was about giving to the community,'' he said. "While it does represent the strengths of the people who lived here, now it isn't just about the house. It's about the cultural and artistic aspects of its history, areas usually not given the attention they deserve."
Garnering attention is exactly how Frankel said he plans to tackle the next level of the Körner Folly's development. Since coming onboard April 20, Frankel has launched an aggressive volunteer recruiting campaign.
"Körner's Folly is Kernersville. If it is going to continue to succeed, it must be integrated into the town," he said.
Körner's Folly, completed in 1880, consists of 22 rooms on three floors and seven levels. Jule Gilmer Körner was an interior designer, decorator and painter. He achieved fortune and fame by painting Bull Durham bulls on buildings and advertisements throughout the United States. His home in Kernersville became an outlet for his creative passion.
The top floor became America's first in-home theater and is still used today for occasional productions.
To help integrate, Frankel is creating a pamphlet for visitors that gives them lists of area restaurants. Frankel is targeting area churches and civic groups to use the Folly for meeting space. He hopes to expand the theater to include poetry readings, story telling, recitals and even chess or board game tournaments.
"This place calls for social gatherings," Frankel said recently while gesturing to the ornate ballroom's spacious elegance as he gave a tour. He plans to target groups looking for corporate meeting spaces. Tours will continue Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. or by appointment.
Although Frankel calls recruiting volunteers his first challenge, his second, he said, will be the restoration needs that have long plagued the historic home. The cost to maintain the Folly is enormous, an endeavor that began when it was rescued from neglect and vandalism in 1970 by a group of citizens committed to its preservation.
"The quality and integrity that it has now is a tribute to the Körner family, and thought behind it that has been done so far. I look at this job as an honor as well as a responsibility and don't want to fail," Frankel said.
Long-time Körner's Folly activist and volunteer Bobbie Wolfe is pleased with Frankel's vision.
"I have found him very enthusiastic about any idea, whether we've tried something in the past or we have an idea for the future,'' Wolfe said. "He is just so appreciative for help. He is jumping in feet first and running."
Using his business background in travel, Frankel is enhancing the Folly Web site. He has created five different language buttons to encourage foreign travel. An e-newsletter will communicate Folly news as well as help with a database Frankel is creating with the help of Kelli Landing, an intern from UNC Chapel Hill.
"This is more than just a landmark. It's a museum. People hear about Körner's Folly and see it from the outside. They don't think about the inside and its furnishings, art, interior design and the history behind all of it. I love giving tours and seeing how people of all ages relate to the house," Frankel said. "People go up and down Main Street. Maybe they've traveled it for 30 years and never been in. Our goal is to get everyone to come in through that door."
■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.
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