First Colony Inn

First Colony is the last surviving original 1932 Nags Head shingle-style hotel — the architectural type that defined this stretch of the Outer Banks before the postwar build-out replaced most of it with low-slung motels and rental houses. The building was almost demolished in the late 1980s, and instead the owners physically moved it three miles down the Beach Road and restored it on a new site. That story is the story of the property.

What you have now is a 27-room shingle-style hotel with wraparound porches on two stories, on a parcel set back from the ocean, run as a year-round inn. It's the rare Outer Banks property that reads as actual coastal architecture rather than rental-house formula.

The setting

Nags Head is the central beach town on the Outer Banks, between Kill Devil Hills (Wright Brothers) to the north and Manteo (Roanoke Island) to the west. First Colony is on the Beach Road (NC-12 / Virginia Dare Trail) on the ocean side of Nags Head, set on a parcel with a private boardwalk to the public beach. The drive from Norfolk is about 90 minutes; Raleigh is three hours west.

This part of the Outer Banks is a long, straight barrier-island strip — the Atlantic on one side, sound and marsh on the other — with state parks (Jockey's Ridge), federal sites (Wright Brothers, Bodie Island Lighthouse), and Cape Hatteras National Seashore beginning 30 minutes south. The town of Manteo, on Roanoke Island west across the bridge, is 15 minutes off the strip and a different atmosphere.

The building

A 1932 wood-shingle hotel — the type that ringed the entire Outer Banks before postwar — with the original double-decker wraparound porch, gabled roofline, and weathered cedar shingles. The 1988 move-and-restoration project saved the structure from demolition; the building was rolled three miles south on a new foundation and rebuilt around its original frame. The aesthetic is refined Americana with the period details kept: clapboard inside the public spaces, fireplaces, original floor plans largely intact in the main building.

The rooms

Twenty-seven keys, distributed across the main shingle building and a small handful of additional structures on the property. Many of the rooms have direct porch access — the wraparound porch is the architectural inheritance and the rooms make use of it. Layouts include standard rooms, larger rooms with sitting areas, and a few suites. Beds are kings or queens; bathrooms are private; some rooms have whirlpool tubs. From-rate sits around $245.

Food & drink

A continental breakfast is included for guests and served in the breakfast room or on the porch. There's no full in-house restaurant. The Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills restaurant scene is within five to ten minutes by car — Tortuga's Lie, Sam & Omie's (operating since 1937), Owens' Restaurant — and the inn is set up to give guests the right local steers rather than build a kitchen of its own.

On the property

The grounds — the porch, the boardwalk to the beach, a small pool — are the program.

• Double-decker wraparound porch with rockers
• Outdoor pool (seasonal)
• Private boardwalk to the public beach across the road
• Beach gear available in season
• Open year-round; peak season May through September

Who it's for

• Travelers who'd rather stay in real coastal architecture than a rental house.
• Families with older kids comfortable in a 27-room hotel rather than a private house.
• Architecture-minded visitors who care that the building is what it claims to be.
• Wright Brothers, Lost Colony, and Cape Hatteras visitors using a central base.

Who it's not for

• Travelers wanting a beachfront resort with a full restaurant and bar program.
• Big multi-family groups looking for a single property — rental houses do that better.
• Anyone expecting a contemporary boutique aesthetic — the inn is properly historical.

Nearby

The public beach is a short walk across the boardwalk. Jockey's Ridge State Park, the largest active sand dune system on the East Coast, is 5 minutes north. The Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kill Devil Hills (the 1903 first-flight site) is 10 minutes. Manteo's downtown and the Elizabethan Gardens / Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island are 15 minutes west. Cape Hatteras National Seashore — the Bodie Island Lighthouse, the Hatteras strip down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — begins 30 minutes south on NC-12.