Jeff Huddleston just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to move his beach house in Rodanthe 70 feet back from the Atlantic Ocean. He and partner Beth Green figure it’ll buy another decade for the five-bedroom house they’ve named “Mermaid’s Song.”

“You can’t beat mother nature,” Green said. “But we can try to work with her.”

Along the easternmost tip of North Carolina, on a strip of sand jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, the ghosts of vacation homes past lean on their stilts in the surf, stairways and septic long ago washed away by relentless storms, crashing waves and rapid coastal erosion.

Over the last four years, 10 beach houses in northern Rodanthe have crumbled into the ocean, four of them last year. The island village once romanticized by the movie “Nights in Rodanthe” is now infamous for beach houses falling into the sea. In fact, the movie’s blue-shuttered house was moved inland in 2010 to save from the fate of so many other Rodanthe vacation homes.
But like a siren’s song, people remain drawn to the wild beaches of Hatteras Island — often just to lose everything.

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‘Shocking’

Ralph Patricelli bought his oceanfront property in 2021 knowing it would need to be moved, but thinking he had plenty of time.

After all, the 1980s cottage had survived decades of storms.

“Is it really going to go anywhere for a few more years?” he thought.

On May 10, 2022, nine months after he bought the house on Ocean Drive, it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean following a nor’easter. His home was the first of two to fall in the ocean that day.

The new owners of Mermaid’s Song, a 3,500-square-foot vacation home on the oceanfront in Rodanthe, was moved inch by inch away from the ocean over the winter. (Photos by Rachel Saddlemire Photography)

“It was a shock,” Patricelli said. “We lost 20 feet of beachfront in just a few months. It was incredible how fast it happened.”

For months beforehand, he scrambled to find money, contractors and a new lot only to see his dreams break apart in the waves. Patricelli hasn’t returned since, though he says he still loves the island.

“It’s a magical spot for anyone who’s spent time there,” he said. And it’s disappearing fast.

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Castles in the sand

Since late last year, nine homes in Rodanthe have been declared unsafe to occupy due to erosion and flooding, with as many as 25 more threatened, said Dare County Manager Bobby Outten.

Erosion on the Outer Banks, and Hatteras Island in particular, is nothing new. It’s a constantly shifting barrier island that acts to protect the mainland from the impact of coastal storms. But over the past decade, the beach along a 1.8-mile section of Rodanthe is eroding at a rapid rate, losing 12 to 20 feet of beachfront each year, according to studies conducted for Dare County.

Despite years of meetings, studies and unfunded proposals, the National Park Service and Dare County have no solid long-term strategy for how to stop the ocean from reclaiming Rodanthe.

A portion of debris from the collapsed house at 23039 G A Kohler Court is shown near houses at 23047 G A Kohler Court and 23237 Sea Oats Drive in Rodanthe. (National Park Service photo)

In 2022, federal, state and local agencies launched the Threatened Oceanfront Structures Interagency Work Group to address strategies for oceanfront houses at immediate risk of collapse.

Based on ideas from the group, the park service in 2023 purchased two threatened oceanfront properties through the National

Park Trust and Land and Water Conservation Fund and tore them down. The demolitions were a pilot for potential future buyout programs for homes in Rodanthe, the park service said.

Corinne Saunders/The Virginian-Pilot

Mike Dunn, owner of Powells Point-based W.M. Dunn Construction, watches the planned demolition of the first of two Rodanthe houses. (The Virginian-Pilot file)

Other measures proposed by the work group include grants to help property owners move houses away from the ocean and reforming insurance thresholds, which currently don’t pay out until a house collapses. The county is also working with state lawmakers on funding sources for possible beach nourishment projects.

Long considered a rich person’s problem, Rodanthe’s erosion rates are now threatening more than vacation homes.

“This isn’t just about homes,” said Dare County Manager Bobby Outten. N.C. 12, the only main road on Hatteras Island, is also at risk. “If these houses are not protected, then that means Highway 12 is not protected.”

Without beach nourishment, a short-term solution itself, there are only two options.

“We find a way to remove the houses, or we find a way to move the houses,” Outten said.

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Eyes wide shut?

Jeff Huddleston bought Mermaid’s Song on South Shore Drive for just over $700,000, knowing he would have to immediately undertake the expense of moving the 3,500-square-foot home so the ocean couldn’t claim it first.

The southern Maryland developer factored in the price of moving the house away from the ocean, a specialized and complicated project that costs anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000.

Hatteras-based contractor Sam Hagedon did the work, which took over four months and involved placing 36 new pylons, building a new septic system and wiring new electric connections. The house was raised from its original spot, up 44 feet in the air, then moved west 70 feet and lowered inch by inch onto the new pylons.

The new owners of Mermaid’s Song, a 3,500-square-foot vacation home on the oceanfront in Rodanthe, was moved inch by inch away from the ocean over the winter. (Photos by Rachel Saddlemire Photography)

With the bulk of the move completed over the winter, Mermaid’s Song is now getting an interior refresh and will be back on the vacation rental market by June 1. It’s already fully booked through August.

“It’s definitely a roll of the dice,” Green said. “With erosion rates now, we’re looking at seven years. We’re hoping we gain at least five to 10 more years with this move. That’s still many years to make memories.”

Kari Pugh is a writer and editor living on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

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Rodanthe collapse timeline

Since 2020, 10 privately-owned oceanfront homes have collapsed on Rodanthe beaches due to erosion, storms and tides.
The National Park Service says at least two dozen more houses are vulnerable to collapse in the next two years as erosion rates continue to accelerate in northern Rodanthe.

AP

In this image provided by National Park Service, debris from a collapsed house sits on the beach in Rodanthe. (National Park Service via AP)

May 29, 2020: An unoccupied house collapsed during the overnight hours at 23238 Sea Oats Drive.

Feb. 9, 2022: On a calm winter day, an unoccupied house collapsed at 24183 Ocean Drive.

May 10, 2022: During a multi-day nor’easter, an unoccupied house collapsed in the early morning hours at 24235 Ocean Drive. That afternoon, another house at 24265 Ocean Drive also collapsed.

March 13, 2023: During a coastal storm, an unoccupied house collapsed at 23228 East Point Drive.

May 28, 2024: An unoccupied house collapsed around 2:30 a.m. at 24131 Ocean Drive.

Aug. 16, 2024: An unoccupied house collapsed at approximately 6:50 p.m. at 23214 Corbina Drive.

Sept. 20, 2024: An unoccupied house collapsed during the early morning hours at 23001 GA Kohler Court. Around 10 p.m., the house next door at 23009 GA Kohler Court also succumbed to the ocean.

Sept. 24, 2024: An unoccupied house collapsed during the afternoon at 23039 G A Kohler Court, Rodanthe.

November 14, 2024: An unoccupied house collapsed during the overnight hours at 23241 Surf Side Drive, Rodanthe.

Originally Published: May 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM EDT