The Stinson Ranch
Our 2010 cover photo captures the “Stinson’s Ranch” before 2011’s Hurricane Irene swept the home and its contents away – leaving only wooden pilings and staircase leading down to the water. Before any bridges were built to connect the Outer Banks to the mainland, travelers relied on boats and docking points in the calm sound waters in order to reach their oceanfront homes carrying their summer provisions. A few builders decided to add homes on the idyllic soundfront with westward views of Roanoke Island. In 1903, the same year the Wright Flyer successfully completed its first flight in Kill Devil Hills, Stinson’s Ranch was completed in Nags Head.
Still exposed to the same elements of sun, wind, sand and surf as oceanfronthomes, these soundfront homes shared many of the same architectural features: wooden pilings to let tidal and storm waters pass underneath, steep pitch rooflines to diminish the upward lifting effect of hurricane-force winds, wide, shaded porches to catch cooling breezes from any direction, and top hinged wooden shutters easily dropped down or propped open with a stick. “We wanted it to be exactly like the old one” stated Billy Stinson, “except where code required changes, everything else is staying the same. We kept the cedar shingles and used the same lapboard siding on the bedroom wing; inside is all wood too, no synthetic materials, the paneling is knotty pine bead board-juniper in the bedrooms, and there’s no varnish on the juniper so it will keep that smell.”
Some examples of changes made for code include the overall height of the home, larger windows, wider doors, and more railings around porches and stairs. Two concessions were made for modern convenience: an additional half-bath was added to the top fl oor and the whole house was outfitted with an HVAC system for air conditioning and heat. “When we started, we had no idea what we were getting into,” Stinson explains further, “these pilings are 32’ long; it took a barge from South Carolina to bring them up here, we had no idea.”
To find out more about the Stinson’s Ranch rebuilding efforts go to: friendsofthecottage.com. ■
“Before” photo courtesy of Eve Turek; “After” photos courtesy of Erin Stinson.
Author: Susan Selig Classen
Susan Selig Classen has been living, writing, and editing on the Outer Banks for over ten years. Her other published work includes articles in AOPA Pilot, Convention South, and Brain Child magazines. Susan was formerly the editor for Three Dog Ink Media.
