Large Group Houses
| Route 66 | Cities | Beaches |
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Large Group Houses |
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| A Large Group House is amazing. Small family houses are built to live in, and rented out for 10-20 years to pay for. Once it's paid for, the owner moves in permanently. Not so with a Large Group House. No one has any intention of ever living in these houses. They are specifically designed and built as rental units. They offer extravagances which themselves become part of the vacation. Some of them are unique. The Lighthouse, above, in Rodanthe, became a landmark and was rented by celebrities like Rachel Ray and Richard Gere. Sadly, it was destroyed in a storm and has not been rebuilt. Beautiful Sound, right, is like its own resort. It sits on five acres of wetland and has its own soundfront beach. It's the most private lodging on the island. At $6000+ a week, these places are beyond the reach of a typical family, and with six bedrooms and six baths a small family would be lost in them anyway. But they're ideal for family reunions, extended families with children and grandchildren, corporate retreats, and school and church groups. We've selected a few of the more spectacular houses to show you just as examples. The catalogues have plenty more. |  |
| Lodging | Camping | Motels | Bed & Breakfasts | Small Family Houses | Large Group Houses |
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This is one of our favorite houses, nicknamed "One". It's the very first house in Avon, on the right as you drive North. "One" is on Avon Beach, one of the best. A quarter mile down and across the road is the famous Canadian Hole launching beach for windsurfing, kiteboarding, and kayaking. The Canadian Hole is the world's greatest windsurfing water, so you can sit on the deck and watch the brightly colored sails on the Sound. "One" has five bedrooms and five bathrooms, and holds 15 comfortably. Rent drops considerably in May and September. The water's still warm and the fishing is better, so they would be fine options is a fine option if you don't have kids in school. From the decks one can look right down on the ocean and westward across Pamlico Sound, so you can watch both sunrises and sunsets. "One" borders national park land, so from this house south for five miles there is nothing but beach and dunes, with the lighthouse beam rotating in the distance. One is a Surf or Sound Realty house. |
If you have an extended family, several families together, or any other group, and you're coming primarily for windsurfing, kayaking, paddle boarding or kiteboarding, we highly recommend the larger houses in the Island Creek Neighborhood, rented by Vacasa. The advantage to having broad carefully cropped lawns at each house is you can use them for staging areas to lay out your sails or kites. Rather than natural beaches, these houses have boarded jetties and docks so you can launch directly rather than having to wade out towing your gear to reach deep water. Kayakers and jet skiiers can tie their boats to the posts and leave them in the water. If you have young kids intimidated by the strong ocean surf, they can comfortably play in the warm, calm, shallow waters with soft sandy bottoms and lots of creatures to observe. There are crabs, clams, fish and birds here, so kids can get a real education in marine biology just messing around within a few feet of the house. This is the greatest windsurfing water in the country, so all day you'll see brightly colored sails drifting by your house. Just north of this string of houses begins a 20 mile stretch of protected national park land, so you'll see a real display of various kinds of birds, and you can kayak or windsurf along that shore and explore a classic wetland. These have three bedrooms and baths or four bedrooms and baths. |
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Sea Star is the largest facility fronting on Buxton Beach. It can sleep 11 if you use the loft's queen and two singles. There's a six person hot tub, four baths, four bedrooms not counting the loft, a gas grille, and pet permits at $90 each. The main floor here is actually the top floor, which allows for cathedral ceilings and spectacular views of the beach, the ocean and the lighthouse. This house is intended for extended families, which could use the loft and bunk bedroom for the kids and have three bedrooms left for adults. There are five TVs (one in the Great Room, one in each adult bedroom), a wet bar, gaming table, gas grill, outside shower, fish cleaning table, WiFi, and the usual hammock and deck furniture. New owners have done major renovation. The dunes protecting the house from storms are home to 12 bird species plus lizards, rabbits, deer, coon and crabs, and sea turtles and horseshoe crabs often lay eggs in front of the dune. A path leads through the dune vegetation to the beach. This is the second house back from Road's End along Old Lighthouse Road. It rents for $4000 in peak season and drops to $1200 in May and September. Sea Star is a Vacasa house. |
| This is a different kind of bargain. This is Mermaid Haven, tenporarily listed independently. It has five bedrooms and six baths. You're in a very nice neighborhood in central Avon, not near either the Ocean or Sound front. By giving up water access, what you gain is a week or two in an absolutely exquisite house. The owner is a builder, and he built this as a work of art. It has every imaginable amenity and the craftsmanship is beautiful. Mermaid Haven has an elevator, gourmet kitchen, poster bed in the daughter's bed room, circular staricase in the atrium (at right in the photo), pool, hot tub, high end pool table, tennis court and keyless locks. You're five minutes drive from the Ocean beachfront, and 10 minutes from the Ocean Air windsurfing center or the Canadian Hole launching beach. |  |
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The closest thing to an estate on the island is Beautiful Sound. The entrance driveway is shown at top. This unit sits on its own five acre wetland, with raised boardwalks going out from the house in various directions. You have your own private Soundside beach (below) for launching windsurfing and/or kiteboarding rigs and kayaks, and for kids' wading. Above the living room is an alcove which can be set up as an office during your week or two stay. Showers are walk in, shown below. The spacious living room (below) looks out across the Sound for spectacular sunsets. You're halfway between the Canadian Hole launching beach and the Ocean Air water front, so you'll see plenty of colorful sails in the air at all times. The pool faces the sunsets and can be heated in the offseason. There's a hot tub and gas fire place. A gourmet kitchen has two refrigerators, two dishwashers, gas stove and granite counters. The rent on this estate is $7000 in peak season, dropping to $2000 in May and September. Beautiful Sound has six bedrooms each with its own private bathroom, so in effect each bedroom is a master, plus one bathroom off the hallway. There are eight TVs, a pool table and two screened porches. This is a Surf or Sound property. |
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| Whispering Sands is on Point Court in Buxton. You're one block back from the ocean, but you have your own large pool for mornings and evenings. Whispering Sands offers six bedrooms and seven bathrooms plus a gourmet kitchen, pool table, home theater, gas fireplace, hot tub, and deck views of the Ocean, Sound and Lighthouse. It rents for $5000 in peak season and $900 in May and September. The house is very vertical; kids playing down in the game room won't bother adults upstairs watching TV or having a conversation watching the moon rise over the Ocean. The one block walk to the ocean brings you to the very center of the famous Buxton Beach with its trough and bar configuration. You can pedal your bike out Old Lighthouse Road, then pick up the new bike trail to the lighthouse and beyond to the actual Cape without ever getting out on Route 12 or any other busy street. If you can tolerate Ocean view instead of Oceanfront, this is a real bargain among the large group houses. Whispering Sands is independently listed. |  |
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