THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407210412
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRIS KIDDER, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 170 lines
Vogen Everhart and his wife, Marge, sit on their deck on a summer morning, a light Hatteras breeze stirring the air, and they laugh about the yardwork they no longer do.
The Everharts lived near Lexington, N.C., until they moved to Kinnakeet Shores on Hatteras Island in January 1993.
``We wore ourselves out on the yard,'' Marge Everhart says.
For the Everharts, Kinnakeet Shores, in the village of Avon, is beautiful. There are no tall trees to shed their leaves, no manicured lawns to trim, just wide-open sky anchored by ocean and sound. Mowing, weeding, taking care of the garden and raking leaves have been replaced by surf fishing, bicycling and walking the beach.
``I can't say how much I love it here,'' Everhart says. ``My husband calls it God's country.''
God's country'' is flat - flat as a pancake from the Froggy Dog, a nearby restaurant in Avon where customers talk fish and local politics. The single ridge of dunes along the oceanfront hides a wide beach of fine, white sand. On the soundside, live-oak thickets mat the land that changes from solid ground to marsh to water.
But flat land means views. Kinnakeet Shores houses provide postcard views of the ocean and Pamlico Sound, of sunrises and sunsets, and of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, blinking across the empty acres of national seashore to the south.
The houses, many built to the county's 52-foot maximum height, sprout like the wild jobells and morning glories blanketing the ground. They rise like wooden totems out of the sand.
God's country, indeed. The vacation god is alive and well in Avon: the sun, the beach, the water, the fish and the lazy pace of a place tied tenuously to real time by a single bridge and a ferry, work their magic.
This magic, the tidal pull that draws folks from inland to the waters' edge, hooked Victor and June Dankewich. The Dankewichs live in Cumming, Ga., a small town north of Atlanta, near their children and grandchildren.
They vacationed on Hatteras Island for nearly 30 years before buying a second home in Kinnakeet Shores in 1991. Now, they find themselves spending most of the year at Avon, inviting family and friends from up and down the coast to share their good fortune.
``If the children didn't enjoy coming here we wouldn't stay so long,'' June Dankewich says. ``We have the best of both worlds.''
Development at Kinnakeet Shores began in 1978. Properties at the resort's southern end, a four-row grid off the oceanfront, were sold first.
This section, with its relatively small lots - some less than 9,000 square feet - is called Phase 1.
Phase 2 is an adjoining block of larger lots, both oceanfront and one lot back from the ocean, called ``semi-oceanfront'' by most real estate agents these days.
In 1986, the 500-plus acre development was sold to the Kinnakeet Shores General Partnership. Since then, the partnership has sold the remaining oceanside lots - Phases 3, 4 and 5.
Houses have been built on 81 of the community's 99 oceanfront lots, and on more than half of the remaining 89 lots in these five sections.
But the oceanfront and near-oceanfront land at Kinnakeet Shores is less than a third of the total development. Current drawings for the community show nearly 500 homesites on the west side of N.C. Route 12. In Phases 6 through 22, some houses are more than a half-mile from the oceanfront, along the Pamlico Sound.
With the exception of 50 lots from Phase 1, west side lots cluster around a few winding cul-de-sacs and line the shores of several ponds.
Only a few lots include actual sound frontage. These lots are large - 1 1/2 to 5 1/2 acres - but the shoreline is several hundred feet from buildable land.
Four dozen homes have been built on the westside so far, and more than a dozen are in the works.
Says Sun Realty's Tom Hranicka, listing agent for Kinnakeet Shores, ``This is where the growth is occurring on Hatteras Island.''
Kinnakeet Shores General Partnership took over the development at a time when Outer Banks real estate was breaking every sales record in the books. The remaining oceanside property in phases 3, 4 and 5 sold out in a couple of years, says Realtor Michael Davenport, a principal in the general partnership.
But by the late 1980s, the Cape Hatteras Water Association put a lid on new water hookups on the south end of the island. That, along with a failing economy, halted most new construction.
Still, the partners persevered. Over the years, they put in roads, a central sewage system and built a large swimming pool and tennis courts. They worked up a compromise with the county that allows property owners to dig temporary wells for water. They landscaped the highway frontage.
Then, last year, the partnership began building model homes. The models made the difference, Davenport said. Once people saw what the new houses looked like, construction and sales took off.
For those who bought Kinnakeet Shores property in the early days, the development has grown beyond their expectations.
Bill and Mary Brady make their home at Whispering Pines, near Pinehurst, N.C. They bought an oceanfront lot at Kinnakeet Shores eight years ago and built a second home within a year.
``Like every place, it's grown,'' Bill Brady says. ``But the Outer Banks is better because of the National Park Service. There's always a limited amount of development that can take place.''
The folks who live and vacation at Kinnakeet Shores take the growing number of houses and the increased traffic in stride.
The fishing is still good, the beaches wide-open, the village still friendly. It's a place where families come together year after year.
``Our children were kind of shocked when we made this move,'' Marge Everhart says. ``Now, they love it too.'' MEMO: ABOUT THE COMMUNITY
Shopping: Hatteras Island Plaza, in the center of the community,
includes a supermarket, restaurants and a bakery.
Recreation: The community includes a swimming pool and tennis courts.
Membership for owners and renters is included in homeowners association
fees for all phases except 1 and 2. A special membership-purchase plan
is available for those two phases.
Community associations: Membership in the Kinnakeet Shores Property
Owners Association is mandatory for phases 1 and 2. Dues are $35 a year.
Membership in the Greater Kinnakeet Shores Homeowners Association is
mandatory for other phases. The initiation fee is $50, and dues are $200
a year for lots and $250 for homes.
Utilities: Phases 1 through 5 have septic systems. A central
wastewater-treatment plant serves the other properties. Water is
provided through the Cape Hatteras Water Association or through
temporary private wells, pending hookup to the water system.
FOR SALE
A sampling of current listings:
At 9-3 Oceanview Drive, a five-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath oceanfront home is
listed at $349,500.
At 31-5 Oceanview Drive, a four-bedroom, three-bath home one lot from
the ocean is listed at $219,900.
At 739 Channel Court, a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath model home is
listed for $139,500.
At 715 Channel Court, a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath furnished home is
listed for $147,500.
SOLD
A sampling of recent sales:
At 19-5 Oceanside Drive, a five-bedroom, three-bath oceanfront house
sold for $298,000 in May.
At 50-2 Oceanside Drive, a four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house one lot
from the ocean sold for $185,000 in April.
At 734 Channel Court, a four-bedroom, two-bath model sold for
$155,500 in October.
FOR RENT
Weekly in-season rates range from $895 for a three-bedroom interior
house to $2,255 for a five-bedroom oceanfront home. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Drew C. Wilson
Vacationers Kathy Raymond, left, and Jenn Locke of Bel Air, Md.,
fish off one of the many bridges over Kinnakeet Shores' canals. More
than 100 homes have been built in the Avon, N.C., subdivision, and
there are plans for nearly 400 more.
Victor and June Dankewich of Georgia vacationed on Hatteras Island
for nearly 30 years before buying a second home in Kinnakeet Shores
in 1991. ``We have the best of both worlds,'' June says.
Marge and Vogen Everhart moved to the community last year. ``I can't
say how much I love it here,'' Marge says.
Photos by Drew C. Wilson
Marge and Vogen Everhart outside their home at Kinnakeet Shores on
Hatteras Island: ``Our children were kind of shocked when we made
this move,'' Marge says. ``Now, they love it too.''
Victor and June Dankewich in their living room: ``If the children
didn't enjoy coming here,'' June says, ``we wouldn't stay so long.''
Development of the community, stretching from the ocean to the
Pamlico sound, began in 1978. Lots for sale include a $175,000
oceanfront site and a $33,000 lakefront parcel.
by CNB