Old Nags Head Cottages

Nags Head has a row of cottages older than the bridges that reach it. Locals call them the Unpainted Aristocracy: cedar shakes left to weather, porches on three or four sides, shutters propped open on sticks, benches built into the rail so you can lean out and watch the water. Most were built between 1900 and 1935 and most are still rented by the week.

Nobody has put them in one place. Every management company on the beach has one or three, listed next to a hundred newer houses. This club is the row, gathered. Each home links to the manager that runs it, and you book with them, the way you always have.