Take 5 with Jan Brewington

Wrightsville Beach roots run deep for JAN BREWINGTON. 

With her father serving as police chief, she grew up in the apartment above the Wrightsville Beach police station. For the rest of her life, Brewington has remained deeply embedded in the community, so building a career that has showcased the beauty and history of Wrightsville just made sense.  

“As soon as I graduated from high school, I moved to downtown Wilmington,” says Brewington, who graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a degree in sociology. “I just loved everything about it, and still do.” 

Following a stint at Wilmington’s downtown Caffe Phoenix, Brewington became involved in political campaigning and nonprofit work with statewide environmental groups. In 2000, she took the helm as the second director of the Wrightsville Beach Museum and held that role for three years. 

Seeing the need to make more money as her two children neared college age, Brewington pivoted again and became a Realtor. She started her real estate career at Intracoastal Realty in 2003, earning Top Producer designation in her first full year. She married JIM KING, and together they started Dram Tree Realty in 2016. 

Brewington brings expertise in historic homes and older neighborhoods throughout Southeastern North Carolina to her business. She says personal connection is paramount to her business, and that she bases her real estate company on individual relationships with clients and their needs.  

“Each marketing decision is based on what is best for an individual property and owner,” she says. “At Dram Tree, our clients are the one and only concern.” 

Civic involvement – particularly the preservation of local history – has remained important for Brewington in recent years. In 2022, she returned to the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History as the president of the board of directors. The same year, she joined the executive committee board of trustees of the Historic Wilmington Foundation and the executive roundtable steering committee for Cape Fear Realtors’ Professional Standards Committee. This February, she began serving at the New Hanover County Library Foundation. 

“During my time with the museum, some things have changed, and some have remained the same,” she says, especially during this past year when the museum faced eviction from the home it had since 1998. The town did not renew the museum’s lease, instead leasing the Bordeaux Cottage to the Harbor Island Garden Club. The museum continues to operate in the second of two buildings with a month-to-month lease.   

“It’s been a tough, defining year for the museum,” she says. “We have been forced to give up a lot, but we still maintain our mission to tell the valuable story of Wrightsville Beach, sometimes messy and complicated, and also beautiful and special.”

Take 5 with Jan Brewington

JAN BREWINGTON has been involved with the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History since the early days. She was the second director of the museum until 2003 and returned as a board member in 2021.  “Over my time with the museum, some things have changed, and some have remained the same,” she says, especially this past year when the museum faced eviction from the home it had since 1998. The museum moved out of one of the two historical cottages it leased from the town, operating now just out of the Myers Cottage on West Salisbury Street. Brewington’s roots in Wrightsville Beach are deep. She grew up there, living in the apartment above the police station where her father was police chief M.E. “Stinky” Williamson. In 2003, she became a Realtor and opened her own firm, Dram Tree Realty, in 2016.

What has been your most eye-opening learning experience in the years you’ve been the Wrightsville Beach Museum board president?

“The eye-opening thing for me has been just how many people love Wrightsville Beach and consider it their beach home. The museum has become a place where those of us who grew up on the beach as well as visitors come with our families to reflect on fond memories.”

How has last year’s spotlight on the museum shaped its future direction?

“We intend to get back to our roots exploring the history and sharing it in innovative ways with partners who have stepped up to join us.”

What does the Wrightsville Beach Museum need right now?

“The museum is a nonprofit organization that exists separately from any government entity and is dependent on memberships and donations to carry out our mission. We need people to visit, learn the story, and support it, become a member, donate, volunteer, or serve on the board.”

What are the key principles under which you founded Dram Tree Realty that have enabled you to survive in the competitive Wilmington real estate world?

“My company is based on individual relationships with clients and their needs. Each marketing decision is based on what is best for an individual property and owner. And there are no admin layers, which enables us to be nimble.”

How do your two roles, Realtor and Wrightsville Beach Museum board president, intersect?

“There are two lessons that have guided me in both my work and community leadership: Don’t be too attached to outcomes – do your very best and then accept the results. And don’t make disputes personal or take them personally.”

To view more of photographer Terah Hoobler’s work, go to terahhoobler.com.

Want more WILMA? Click here to sign up for our WILMA newsletters and announcements.