Step Inside A North Carolina Beach House On Sale For A Bargain Price

Ocean Isle Beach is one of the small South Brunswick barrier islands in North Carolina. It is considered part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area, with the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, an hour's drive to the south, and Wilmington, North Carolina, about the same distance to the north. Both of those cities have international airports from which you can access Ocean Isle Beach.

If you love living close to the water, this 1,152-square-foot cottage is listed for sale for $364,500, per Realtor. It's just steps from the Intercoastal Waterway, and there's a marina close by if you need to moor a boat. The house is laid out with four bedrooms and two full bathrooms in the central living space, combining the living room, eating area, and kitchen and playing up the beach vibe with the paint colors. The front of the house has a partially covered porch raised off the ground on the type of stilt foundation commonly found along the ocean.

Although this cottage is located in a residential neighborhood, a large industrial building is right behind it, per Realtor. Fortunately, a cute blue and white paint job on the exterior of the building gives it a beachside appearance. There are potentially two additional lots between this house and the Intercoastal Waterway, and you can see a bit of the water through the treed area that lines the water from the top deck. 

Concrete slabs cover the ground area below the raised house and provide a perfect place for covered carport parking, as well as a covered entertainment area, where you can set up a grill for outdoor dining and seating. A central storage room can be accessed through sliding, barn-style doors — the site also features a sizeable laundry room. Next to that is an oversized outdoor shower with privacy walls which offers the perfect complement for any beachside home.

The front-to-back living space has a tall, vaulted ceiling, a 4-panel window in each gabled peak, and white-painted, paneled walls, per Realtor. While all the bedrooms have the same paneled walls, each one is painted differently in a beachy color scheme. Rich brown-colored vinyl plank flooring covers all the floors except the bathrooms. The main living space and each of the bedrooms have ceiling fans, although the house also has central air conditioning. Despite only having a central living area with four bedrooms, there is the potential to set up an extra sitting room or office. 

The house has a heat pump, which means it could be used year-round, although, with winter temperatures overnight in the '30s and '40s, a property raised on a stilt foundation might allow a lot of cold air inside. Coastal Dream Life recommends insulating with closed-cell foam insulation for the ultimate, comfortable experience. 

The U-shaped kitchen creates a bar-stool seating area on one end, with cabinets and drawers on the other. It also offers ample surface space for preparing food. While the style of the white cabinetry appears original to the 1974 house, the upper and lower cabinets have been accented with turquoise glass knobs adding to the ocean-side theme. Per Realtor, a slotted plate rack sits just above the built-in microwave and above the electric stove.  

The soaring vaulted ceilings allow a display shelf to run along the tops of the cabinets. A contemporary, glass pendant light hangs above the stainless steel double sink, and an industrial, vintage-looking light suspends above the bar counter. The new owners may want to add additional ceiling lights, as the only other glow comes from the ceiling fan above the living room area. Just near the kitchen's back door is enough space for a long bench seat, which could be switched out for storage cubbies and hooks, if needed.