Tom Patton spends his days pulling weeds and landscaping around the decrepit, centuries-old house on the outskirts of Assateague Island that once belonged to his ancestors.

The work is part of a nearly million-dollar effort by Patton's organization, the Rackliffe House Trust Inc., to restore the former plantation house and turn it into a museum tracking the settlement of Maryland's coastal bays. The house is located adjacent to the Sinepuxent Bay, near the Assateague National Seashore's visitor center.

"The idea is that we want to bring the house back as close as we can to an original residence - so we can properly interpret how people lived in those days," Patton said.

His ancestors, the Wale family and the Rackliffe family, bought the land in the late 1600s, Patton said. In 1752, they built what is now called the Rackliffe Plantation House. The residence stayed in possession of Rackliffe and Wale descendents for generations, until it was abandoned, and the state bought it in the 1990s.

But in 2004, Patton decided to bring the house back to its former glory. In March, the state approved a 50-year lease for the building and three surrounding acres, giving the trust control of the house's future life as a museum.

"We're going through a lot of detective work right now, trying to put together a working plan," Patton said.

The trust has already raised about $300,000 for the project, including funds from state and county, foundations and private donors. It would likely take more than $700,000 and between three and four years to complete the museum, Patton said.

The trust began work gutting the structure three weeks ago, tearing apart already crumbling walls and floors to find the house's original layout. The house suffered at least one fire, Patton said, and was altered during rebuilding.

Contractors have already unearthed pieces of old marble fireplaces and other "trinkets," Patton said, which would likely be displayed in the museum. An outdoor well-house would also be restored.

But the museum might lure some visitors in search of less tangible attractions: Ghosts.

Over the years, residents of the house have reported multiple spectral sightings, Patton said. One legend features a Rackliffe descendent being murdered by his abused slaves. Others say the house was burned by the British during the Revolutionary War.

"In the latter part of the 20th century it developed a reputation as the haunted house of Worcester County," Patton said.

With or without ghosts, Lisa Challenger, Worcester County's tourism director, thinks the museum will be a hit.

"It's a total gem," Challenger said.

She expects the museum to be an added a draw for wildlife-loving tourists already attracted to Assateague Island's natural beauties.

"We think the kind of people who visit Assateague and like camping - are probably the kind of visitors who are into exploring and learning history and that kind of thing," she said.

The museum would also complement another nearby site, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore's Coastal Ecology Teaching and Research Laboratory.

Rackliffe House is "a nice finishing piece of the puzzle." said Dave Wilson, public outreach coordinator for the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. "The missing chunk in that area is history."

Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires