Unveiled: How our couple moves the entire house to escape from rising tides – realestate.com.au

When emerging tides and ruthless erosion threatened to swallow their beach house with three floors, an American couple took an extraordinary step to make it: they moved the entire structure inland. Their decision to move the house in Rodanthe, North Carolina, underlines the growing risks that coastal communities are confronted as erosion and extreme weather, the landscape reforms, including more recently to the popular Gold Coast of Australia.

The dream house of the couple, purchased in 2002, was initially free from worries about erosion. “It was not on our radar at that time,” said Dr. Scott Twentyman Broker.com.

“We never even thought of it.”

The coastline of Rodanthe, however, is eroding at an estimated speed of 13 feet per year, so that their property was ultimately endangered.

The turning point came in 2019, when three consecutive Nor’eaasters, including Hurricane Dorian, hit the Outer Banks.

Several neighboring houses crashed into the ocean and rubble of one of them damaged Dr. Twentyman and the house of Cindy Doughty of his wife.

“When one of the houses went down, one of the neighbor’s posts crashed through our back door and our first floor had 2 feet of water in it,” Doughty recalls.

“It was crazy.”

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With their home uninhabitable and the risk of destruction, the couple decided to move 100 feet inland to a safer location on their double plot.

“It was clear that we had to move or lose the house,” said Dr. Twentyman.

“We had no choice.”

When they put the house on the market, the couple feared that they would receive a Lowball offer because the house was uninhabitable at that time.

“Plus, we could never get anything like this house again, so we really didn’t want to sell it,” Dr. Twentyman.

The relocation process was challenging and expensive and cost more than $ 303,000 (US $ 200,000). Insurance companies refused to proactively cover the costs of moving the house, so that Dr. Twentyman and his wife were able to finance the project himself.

“The insurance company says that the house should fall into the ocean before you are paid,” Twentyman complains.

“It’s idiot.”

To save their house, the couple had to take out a loan of equity for another real estate that they owned to finance the move itself. Source: Cindy Doughty

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To cover the costs, the couple took a loan for home equity on a different real estate.

They hired expert House Movers, a company that is known to move the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the late nineties.

The first floor of the house had to be removed to install beams under the structure, and the posts were moved on the rock for extra stability.

Despite the logistics challenges and the stress of securing permits during the hurricane season, the actual movement only lasted 20 minutes.

“I was really surprised how quickly that part happened,” said Mrs. Doughty.

The couple eventually made the decision to move their house 100 further inland from the advancing beach. Source: Cindy Doughty

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The night of the move was characterized by severe storms, but a short calmness let the move continue.

“The wind died down, the rain stopped and it was really quiet,” said Mrs. Doughty.
“I still get goosebumps just thinking.”

Now safely placed on the foundation, the house of the couple is better equipped to withstand future storms.

The couple does not regret their decision.

“It was a big leap of faith, but it paid off,” Mrs. Doughty.

“We both have such a strong emotional bond with this house, and we didn’t want to lose it.”