In the 1950s, the arrival of summer meant one thing: It was time to pack our clothes and travel to the coast for a month or more. My family’s particular destination was the South Carolina coastal community of Ocean Drive in South Carolina (now known as North Myrtle Beach), but the same scenario was played out from Virginia to Florida, as inland families dropped everything to head for the cool ocean breezes and eternal playground of the beach.
The 20th Century: Heyday of Cottage Magic After we arrived, dusty houses would be opened and cleaned. Drinking water would be brought from home or purchased from area wells. (The tap water was potable, but not very tasty, unless you were cooking grits). The children of families with beach cottages would bring playmates. Every morning after breakfast, mothers lined up their beach chairs across the sand and turned the children loose to construct elaborate sandcastles, dig canals and splash among the waves.
We played all day, sometimes even bringing sandwiches in small coolers so we could stay for lunch. When the sun began to set, we’d grudgingly pick up our toys and trudge back to the cottage, rinsing sandy feet and bottoms under cold outdoor showers before heading in.
After supper, mothers would sit on the porch, watching the occasional fireworks display or simply enjoying desultory conversation. Fathers visited on weekends. It was certainly a dream existence for a child.
Off the North Carolina coast, along the Outer Banks, the old wooden cottages of Nags Head, often built decades before, attracted another set of families. About a dozen such cottages, some built as long ago as 1860, are now part of the Nags Head Beach Cottage Row Historic District. Built around a healthy respect for the power of the ocean, original cottages were mostly unpainted wood that weathered to a deep, dark brown. They were usually 1 1/2 stories, with the upper story frequently unfinished and used only for sleeping.
Steep rooflines were thought to help cottages withstand coastal storms. Dormers add another layer of style.
Timeless Elements of Carolina Coastal Cottages The rooflines were steep, because some thought that would help them stand up to high winds. Dormers were a frequent addition. Tall ceilings let the heat rise away from bodies, and lots of doors and windows invited delicious breezes indoors.
Typically Carolina coastal cottages had large screened porches or decks that wrapped around three or four sides. The decks let residents catch the sun’s rays or enjoy the twinkling stars; screened porches protected from mosquitoes and other critters. Then, as now, many houses were built on timber pilings to elude the water in storms or hurricanes. In early days, kitchens were in separate buildings, perhaps joined by a walkway.
The homes reflected the lifestyle – casual, focused on the ocean and beaches – and were built to take advantage of that blessed breeze. Wood floors were easy to sweep. Latticework under the houses provided storage for the accoutrements of play, including grills, beach chairs, rafts, shovels and pails for the beach and umbrellas for shade. Because it was so functional, the design was replicated up and down the Southern coast. Genevieve Peterkin, author of "Heaven Is a Beautiful Place: A Memoir of the South Carolina Coast," remembers cottages built after the 1893 hurricane which took out the cedar trees, live oaks and pines in the area that is now known as Garden City.
"A number of folks used the trunks of those cedar trees as posts for the porches," she says. "They left little knobs from the limbs, and as children, we’d climb those posts just for fun." Salvaged materials were used to patch, repair and rebuild.
"Generally, the porches went across the ocean side and down the south side to capture the afternoon south wind," she says. The side facing the ocean was considered the front of the house. The earliest cottages, built by plantation owners in the late 1800s, are long gone, and most of the early 20th century houses have been replaced by larger homes and condominiums. Still, people remain drawn to the water and surrounding marsh.
The 21st Century: Magic Redesigned The Carolina beach cottages designed so many years ago to fit another time and place still work for the families lucky enough to hold onto them, or smart enough to emulate their best design features in newer homes. Ahhh, another generation of memories.
But today’s cottages – like cabins, their mountain cousins – are even more practical, low-maintenance and appropriate for all kinds of weather.
Just ask Charleston, S.C., architect Bill Huey. He designs cottages that give a nod to the historic but accommodate the needs of today’s families for an open feel with (paradoxically) more privacy. Here are some of the ways he and others have used modern know-how to enhance some of the classic designs:
