The Cypress House Inn

A six-room cypress-shingle bed-and-breakfast in Nags Head, across the dunes from the Atlantic and a short walk from Jockey's Ridge. Adults-only, simple, owner-run. The Cypress House Inn is the answer to the Outer Banks for travelers who don't want a beach-house rental and don't want a high-rise. Six rooms, a porch, and the dunes between you and the water.

It is one of the few small lodgings on the Banks that has been allowed to stay small.

The setting

Nags Head sits in the middle of the Outer Banks — a long sandy spit between the Atlantic and the Croatan Sound, three hours east of Raleigh and two from the Norfolk airport. The inn is on the South Beach Road in old Nags Head, where the original 1930s and 1940s "unpainted aristocracy" of cypress-shingled cottages still survives. Jockey's Ridge State Park — the largest active sand dune system on the East Coast — is a five-minute walk; the beach is two minutes via a wooden dunes crossing.

This part of Nags Head feels older than the rest of the Banks, lower-built, and a little time-warped.

The building

A 1940s cypress-shingle cottage in the local "unpainted aristocracy" tradition — weathered shingles, deep porches, double-hung windows. Public rooms are a screened porch (the actual living room of the property), a small parlor, and the breakfast room. The aesthetic is Outer Banks vernacular, not designer beach-house: white cotton, blue ticking, a little wicker, the occasional decoy.

The rooms

Six rooms, all named, all distinct. Most have queen beds, a couple have kings, and a few have private porches. Bathrooms are simple and well-kept. From-rates open around $255 in season, including a full hot breakfast. Wi-Fi is fine; cell service is normal. There are no televisions in some rooms by design.

Food & drink

There's no restaurant. A full hot breakfast is served daily in the dining room. For dinner, the walk-and-drive options are Sam & Omie's (the historic Nags Head fish house), Tortugas' Lie, and Owen's Restaurant; Kill Devil Grill in Kill Devil Hills is a ten-minute drive for the better dinner reservation. The owners keep a current short list at the front desk.

On the property

A screened porch, a hot tub, a small garden. There is no pool, no spa, no gym. The dunes and the beach are the program.

• Adults-only
• Full hot breakfast included
• Hot tub
• Walking distance to the Atlantic and Jockey's Ridge
• Open year-round; winter is quiet but operational

Who it's for

• Couples who'd rather a small B&B than a beach-house rental with cleaning fees
• Travelers who want the original Nags Head, not the mass-tourism version
• Architecture readers who'll appreciate the cypress-shingle vernacular
• Anyone for whom "no kids on the property" is a positive

Who it's not for

• Families with kids — the inn is adults-only
• Travelers who want a pool, gym, or full beach-resort program
• Pet owners (no pets allowed)

Nearby

Jockey's Ridge State Park is five minutes' walk for the dunes and the hang-gliding school. The Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills is fifteen minutes north. Bodie Island Lighthouse is twenty minutes south on Highway 12. For dinner: Sam & Omie's at the foot of the bridge, Owen's Restaurant in Nags Head, Kill Devil Grill, and the Lifesaving Station bar at the Sanderling are all worthwhile. Hatteras and Ocracoke are longer drives south for serious surf.