Building a home on the Outer Banks means building for an environment unlike almost anywhere else. Wind, water, salt air, shifting site conditions and coastal weather all influence the decisions made long before the finishing touches go in.
At Beach Realty & Construction, decades of experience building along the Outer Banks have taught us that a successful coastal home begins with thoughtful planning, the right materials and an understanding of the property itself. From foundation to finish, every project should be designed for where it is being built and how it will be used for years to come.
A custom Craftsman-style home currently taking shape in Southern Shores.
Building for the Outer Banks
Coastal construction is about more than creating a home with a beautiful view. The Outer Banks presents its own combination of environmental conditions, from oceanfront exposure and soundside flooding to drainage challenges, wind and salt-laden air.
Those conditions should influence decisions from the beginning of a project. Site preparation, structural design, exterior materials and even small construction details can play an important role in how a home performs and holds up over time.
That is why local experience matters. Building successfully here requires more than knowing how to build a house. It requires knowing how to build this house, on this property, on the Outer Banks.
Wind, Water & Site Conditions Matter
No two Outer Banks homesites are exactly alike. Oceanfront, oceanside, soundfront and wooded properties can each present very different considerations, and even neighboring lots may have different drainage, elevation or site challenges.
Understanding those conditions early allows the construction team, designers and other professionals involved in the project to make informed decisions about the structure and site rather than trying to solve preventable problems later.
That philosophy has guided Beach Realty & Construction for generations: identify what the site demands, build thoughtfully and look beyond the immediate construction process to the long-term performance of the home.
Materials Matter in a Coastal Environment
The materials that work well inland are not always the best choice for a coastal home. Moisture, salt, sun and wind exposure can be especially demanding on exterior finishes, fasteners, roofing components, windows, doors and other building materials.
Selecting materials with durability, maintenance and location in mind is an important part of designing an Outer Banks home. Today's building products offer homeowners more choices than ever, including materials that combine traditional coastal character with improved resistance to the elements.
You can see that approach in our current Outer Banks custom home projects, where materials and construction details are selected with both design and the coastal environment in mind.
Experience You Can't Get From a Blueprint
Plans and specifications are essential, but decades spent building in the same coastal communities add another layer of knowledge. Beach Realty & Construction's roots on the Outer Banks reach back to the 1970s, when the area looked very different and coastal construction was beginning to evolve.
Many of the lessons learned during those early years still shape the way we approach construction today: use appropriate materials, pay attention to the structure beneath the finishes, understand the homesite and never sacrifice the important things simply because they may not be visible when the project is complete.
A Personal History by Jimbo Ward
The first nail I ever drove professionally was in Manteo. Growing up in Virginia Beach, my first attraction to the Outer Banks was surfing. But in the 1970s, there were only so many ways to make a living here. I had already tried fishing, and life on a trawl boat was far from pleasant, so I started building houses in Burnside Forest under the direction of Tom Edwards, one of the finest carpenters I have ever worked with.
I later worked with a master carpenter from Edenton named Edgar Halsey, who had been doing restoration work for the State of North Carolina. I still adhere to the values he passed on to me in my first job: “Any job worth doing is worth doing the best you know how.”
The trick is to have the appropriate material to create the finish you want. Any time you buy less than the best, you can end up paying more in the long run. The same lesson applies to technique.
Those lessons held true for the simple houses of the past, just as they do for the larger and more complex homes being built on the Outer Banks today.
Learning to Build for the Oceanfront
One of the first houses I built under my own company, Beach Realty & Construction, was a small oceanfront saltbox in Kitty Hawk for Mrs. Elaine Eike, a former president of the Virginia Association of Realtors. She didn't want a big house, but she wanted one built to last.
Oceanfront structures are continually challenged by wind, water and erosion. For that home, we took additional steps with the foundation and structural bracing because economy did not mean ignoring the parts of the structure that required attention.
As Homes Changed, Coastal Construction Changed With Them
Between the early 1980s and early 1990s, design and construction on the Outer Banks changed dramatically in both size and complexity.
When Bob and Kathy D'Lauro planned a 3,600-square-foot oceanfront home with a swimming pool in Whalehead, their property presented serious design challenges. Their goal was to create an exciting home with the amenities vacationers wanted while still paying close attention to the structure beneath it.
That project reinforced an important lesson: features and finishes matter, but the long-term integrity of a coastal home has to begin underneath them.
Taking Water Seriously
We live in a beautiful place surrounded by water, and part of enjoying that setting is respecting it. Flooding and storm conditions are not limited to the oceanfront. Soundfront and low-lying properties can present their own challenges.
The Halloween Storm of 1993 reinforced many of the lessons we had already learned about ground-level construction, flooding and protecting vulnerable portions of a coastal home.
Sometimes the Challenge Is the Homesite
As Outer Banks communities developed, some remaining lots came with unique site challenges. Frank and Nancy Karkuff encountered eight to ten inches of standing water on their newly purchased Corolla Light property after a heavy rain.
Rather than simply addressing the area beneath the house, Beach Realty worked with the homeowners, CAMA representatives and the Corolla Light Homeowners Association on a drainage solution that benefited not only their property, but the surrounding area as well.
It is an example of a philosophy that continues to guide our work today: solve the problem with the long term in mind rather than simply putting up another house.
"After over thirty years of building on the Outer Banks, I'm still here and so are all of my houses."
— Jimbo Ward
Jimbo wrote those words after more than three decades of Outer Banks construction experience. Today, Beach Realty & Construction's building legacy spans more than five decades.
Ready to Build on the Outer Banks?
Whether you're starting with a homesite, exploring plans for a future beach house or considering a major renovation, our construction team can help you begin planning a home designed for the Outer Banks.
Explore our custom home building and remodeling services, or start a conversation with our team.