Watch: Entire oceanfront home moved away from shore to preserve property in Outer Banks

02:57

Watch: Oceanfront home moved away from shore in Outer Banks

In Buxton, North Carolina, a homeowner decided to undergo a massive project to save their oceanfront property by moving the entire house to a new location.

BUXTON, N.C. - A homeowner in the Outer Banks chose a unique way to move their home away from dangerous waters.

In Buxton, North Carolina, a homeowner decided to undergo a massive project to save their oceanfront property by moving their entire house to a new location.

Jenni Koontz of Epic Photography told Storyful she captured footage of crews with Crum Works Inc. moving a home on Cape Court to a new lot close to Old Lighthouse Road. 

It's a very short walk, but the move happened over the course of two weeks in May.

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The move was done with the hope that the home could be saved from the same fate as neighboring properties that succumbed to the elements and fell into the ocean.

"The house was lifted, and the pilings cut using wood cribbing and a unified jacking system. Then lowered back down on hydraulic dollies," Koontz told Storyful.

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"An excavator pilled the house with a chain to the new present pilings. The house was then lifted with the unified jacking system and rolled onto the pilings using yellow rollers," Koontz continued.

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All the furniture stayed in place during the move, and the owner hopes to have the house ready to live in by the summer, according to Koontz.

"The homeowner paid out of pocket for the new lot, the cost of the move and rebuild costs, etc.," Koontz said. "There is usually little to no damage to the inside or the house from the move."

Rodanthe is located in Dare County, North Carolina, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks.

(DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images)

Although a rebuild permit cannot be issued for the original lot, the homeowner still owns it, according to Koontz.

"Hopefully with the upcoming beach nourishment project this summer in Buxton and the rebuild of the first jetty, this house will be safe from the ocean for many years to come," Koontz said.

Late Tuesday, another unoccupied home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean in Buxton, North Carolina. This marks the 20th house to collapse in Buxton since September 2025.

The collapse comes after a High Surf Advisory was issued on Tuesday as waves appeared to be getting higher than initially expected in the Outer Banks.

Officials said 32 homes in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe have collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean since 2020, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

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According to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, authorities have been working tirelessly throughout the day to clean up the debris from the most recent collapsed house.

As a result, the entire beachfront from the north end to the south end of Buxton Village is currently closed to public entry due to the debris from the collapsed house and the presence of threatened oceanfront structures.

04:29

Another home collapses along North Carolina's Outer Banks, 32nd since 2020

FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne is on the Outer Banks in Buxton, North Carolina, where another home collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean late Tuesday. The collapse marks the 20th in Buxton since September 2025 in an ongoing battle against coastal erosion. 

Many of these homes were once hundreds of feet from the beach, but are now constantly exposed to ocean water, a drastic example of ongoing coastal erosion, which has been exacerbated by storms over the last several years.

According to the National Park Service, certain homes in the region are in an intertidal zone, which is an area that is exposed during low tide, but covered in water during high tide.

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To help address this issue, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore has issued permits to local authorities in Dare County to repair the southernmost groin of Buxton. A groin is a shore perpendicular structure used to maintain updraft beaches or to restrict longshore sediment transport.

Officials said the beach reopening is expected to occur following Dare County's beach nourishment project.