Meaning in the name

It all began with a dream of renovating a historic house, not necessarily in North Carolina, but somewhere. Since we now call Wilmington, North Carolina our home, this became the launching point for Sound Oak Restoration.

Throughout our marriage, we have been immersed in varying levels of home projects. We are now living in our fourth home, and I’m sure it won’t be our last. All our houses represent a period in our lives, and since life is always changing, likely our home will too.

The name of our ‘business’ stems from a combination of who we are. I love to find the route and meaning of words and names, so this name is very significant to me.

The first part of our Surname is Sund which in Norwegian means a sound or a strait. The first part of my maiden name is Eik which in Norwegian means Oak. It goes further than that, at least in my mind. We both were raised on Long Island, and Long Island Sound has deep meaning as much of our days were spent on or in the water. Oak trees are a predominant tree in New York, and many a leaf have been admired and raked! Oak trees have taken on new meaning here in the South. Live Oaks are everywhere with their intricate form and eternal beauty. I could go even deeper with the symbolism of water and trees, but I’ll leave it there. We have a name and we have our first project.

214 South 8th Street

You might wonder, why would we save this house? Well, the price was right and we saw potential. With an abundance of grit and time, we are restoring this two-apartment house in downtown Wilmington. I’ll walk you through the progress and share a little history along the way.