Architectural TravelOuter Banks North Carolina
We've stayed in beach houses in the Outer Banks of North Carolina several times. I've never paid much attention to the architecture because, well, I was on vacation. But this time I decided to keep my eyes open and see what's going on down there. The house styles range from mobile homes to simple "beach shacks" (where we stayed last time), as seen above, to huge homes, as seen below. Some of these big guys have private pools, elevators, and game rooms. Generally because they are so huge, several families occupy one house during a vacation and split the costs. The owners of these places usually live in the Outer Banks, in a more modest home and they rent out the monsters until they're paid off. Then they move in themselves or sell the place and retire.
While some of the big beach houses feature fairly simple designs, others are more complex, borrowing details from the Victorian-era like towers, stickwork, elaborate porches, railings and gazebos. This one can be seen from the ferry boat terminal that goes to Ocracoke.
You can't go to the Outer Banks without checking out the lighthouses. This is the one in Hatteras - you can tell by the distinctive barber pole paint job. Probably the most amazing thing about this structure is they moved it. Beach erosion had compromised it's original location so they cut it off it's base and used a rail system to move it back nearly 3000 feet. Seriously.
The lighthouse still functions as a computerized beacon but in the old days it was tended by guys who lived on the property. This is the house where they used to live. It's obviously much simpler in design than the huge beach houses. They moved this too, when they moved the lighthouse.
I'm guessing the house below is also an earlier, indigenous design. It's built close to the ground with cedar shake shingles, functional storm shutters and a bit of stickwork in the apex. Reflecting the importance of life on the water, the back porch was built facing towards an inlet of water, while the front porch looks out to the street.
And finally, we have a "flying saucer" house. I've driven by this thing lots of times and decided to grab some shots. Another guy was doing the same thing and he told me they built some of these as experimental houses. Some quick research confirmed that the "Futoro" house was designed by a Finnish architect named Matti Suuronen. Here's a website if you want to learn more: http://www.futurohouse.com. If you love the beach, you'll go crazy for the Outer Banks.
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