Revealed: How US couple moved entire house to escape rising tides

When rising tides and relentless erosion threatened to swallow their three-storey beach house, a US couple took an extraordinary step to save it: they moved the entire structure inland. Their decision to relocate the home in Rodanthe, North Carolina, underscores the growing risks faced by coastal communities as erosion and extreme weather reshape the landscape, including more recently on Australia’s popular Gold Coast.

The couple’s dream home, purchased in 2002, was initially free from concerns about erosion. “It wasn’t on our radar at the time,” Dr. Scott Twentyman told Realtor.com.

“We never even thought of it.”

However, Rodanthe’s coastline has been eroding at an estimated rate of 13 feet per year, eventually putting their property in jeopardy.

The turning point came in 2019, when three consecutive nor’easters, including Hurricane Dorian, battered the Outer Banks.

Several neighbouring homes collapsed into the ocean, and debris from one of them damaged Dr Twentyman and his wife’s Cindy Doughty’s house.

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

“It was crazy.”

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The couple saw several of their neighbors’ houses fall into the Atlantic Ocean back in 2019. Source: Cindy Doughty

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

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

“We had no choice.”

If they put the house on the market, the couple feared they would get a lowball offer, since the home was uninhabitable at that point.

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

The relocation process was challenging and expensive, costing over $303,000 (US$200,000). Insurance companies refused to cover the expense of proactively moving the house, leaving Dr Twentyman and his wife to finance the project themselves.

“The insurance company says the house has to fall into the ocean before you get paid,” Twentyman laments.

“It’s idiotic.”

In order to save their home, the couple had to take out a home equity loan on another property they owned to finance the move themselves. Source: Cindy Doughty

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To cover the costs, the couple took out a home-equity loan on another property.

They hired Expert House Movers, a company renowned for relocating The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the late 1990s.

The first floor of the house had to be removed to install girders under the structure, and the pilings were repositioned onto bedrock for added stability.

Despite the logistic challenges and the stress of securing permits during hurricane season, the actual move took only 20 minutes.

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

The couple ultimately made the decision to relocate their home 100 feet further inland from the encroaching beach. Source: Cindy Doughty

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The night of the move was marked by heavy storms, but a brief calm allowed the relocation to proceed.

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

Now safely positioned on bedrock, the couple’s home is better equipped to withstand future storms.

The couple have no regrets about their decision.

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

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