After leaving Pea Island, we headed over to Chicamacomico Life Saving Station, but they were closed. So we asked Barb and John if they would want to see the Nights of Rodanthe house. We have seen this house from the road many times, but still hadn't driven up to get a closer look. We didn't get too close of a look this time either because there wasn't a place to park that wasn't so sandy that we feared we would get stuck. So we did a drive by "shooting" instead.
If you are wondering what makes this particular house so special, it was the house used in the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" based on the book written by Nicholas Sparks. It was called The Inn at Rodanthe in the movie. At that time the house sat in a different location.
At some point storms and hurricanes shifted the 45 foot tall houses location to the point where it was deemed unsafe. The owners were told to move the house or it would be condemned. The house found itself new owners, Ben and Debbie Huss of Newton, North Carolina. They vowed to move the house and restore it to its former glory.
From Everything Outer Banks:"The Huss family hired Expert House Movers (who was the company that moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse), and the infamous Matyiko brothers that own Expert House Movers moved on the job quickly. The house, which weighed in at a whopping 83,000 pounds, was jacked up, shored up with cribbing underneath, loaded up on beams and four pairs of huge wheels, and readied for its move in a matter of just two days. Permits were pulled, electric crews stood by to move power lines, as did the police to stop traffic while the behemoth was to take the approximate 30 minute journey down highway 12 to its new location.The original move was scheduled for Friday, January 15th, and as the pilings were cut away and the massive truck pulled into position to move the big girl everyone gathered in anticipation. The house jostled to the left as she started moving and everyone cheered as she was pulled away from the Atlantic. Unfortunately the excitement was short lived as the house evidently wanted to stay in its long time location for one more weekend. The massive truck got its wheels stuck in the sand as it was trying to pull the house out of its birthplace, and with nightfall coming fast the move had to be rescheduled for the following Monday.
On Monday, January 18th with the truck unstuck, its wheels secure, all police, electrical, cable television and telephone company crews ready to take down their lines again, water department folks standing by, department of transportation officials there to supervise and a village of onlookers in position the house was moved at 10:30 AM. The move was uneventful if you don’t count the news helicopters, and hundreds of onlookers gawking at a once in a lifetime sight."
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