"A lot of the lots out here are fairly small, so a lot of the homes are raised up,” said the architect, pointing to the time when cars were allowed on Wrightsville Beach (early 1920s) as the impetus for this style change. By building a house up on pilings, home owners were then able to park their car underneath.

"And," he added with a smile, "they probably had some experience with hurricanes and flooding.

Jim Wallace, president of Intracoastal Realty Corp., tore down his 70-year-old ranch-style house on South Harbor Island after Hurricane Fran visited and left his bed underwater. Like many of his neighbors he built up — and now has wonderful water views from any of the decks. He describes it as a "North Carolina beach-style house" that "is pretty straight-forward and has lots of open space."

(Mr. Wallace is not related to Oliver T. Wallace, the original owner of Harbor Island and developer of Shore Acres.)