Beachfront mansion

Figure 13. This house was damaged by hurricanes and is closer to the shoreline than before. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)

Figure 13 shows a recently built beachfront mansion on the even more recently flattened topography of North Topsail. Note the tilted beach access steps indicative of damage from Hurricanes Dennis and/or Floyd in 1999. Note also the corner iron for the lot on the upper beach in the right foreground. Clearly the hurricanes stripped away sand that once was part of this property, but this sand did not get overwashed further back. It probably was eroded offshore, but whether it will return is not clear. The offshore ridge may well prevent its return, leaving this spot on Topsail narrower than it was before the storms.

For what it is worth, this house was for sale at the time of my visit in October, 1999.

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