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

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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.

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"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.

Officials said 31 homes in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe have collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean since 2020, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

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.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore issued a permit to local authorities in Dare County to repair the southernmost groin of Buxton. Officials said a groin is a shore perpendicular structure used to maintain updraft beaches or to restrict longshore sediment transport.

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The entire beachfront from the north end to the south end of Buxton Village is currently closed to public entry due to the presence of threatened oceanfront structures, according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

A High Surf Advisory was issued on Tuesday as waves appear to be getting higher than initially expected in the Outer Banks.

The beach reopening is expected to occur following Dare County's beach nourishment project.