Atlantic View Motel

The picture is of the Atlantic View Motel in Hatteras, North Carolina. I took it shortly before sunset (which would have been around 5 PM) in late December of 1995 during the most recent of at least two times that I stayed at the motel while vacationing in the Outer Banks. On a couple of later trips (in 2000 and 2009) I didn't see the place and wondered vaguely what had become of it. While cooped up on covid-19 lockdown this summer I did some internet research on the subject. This proved to be a little a challenging as while it may seem like everything you could possibly want to know is on the internet these days this isn't really the case especially if you go just a little bit into the past. However I eventually figured out what had happened although it took me longer than it should have for a reason that will become apparent. Here is what I found out.

The Atlantic View Motel was built in 1977. It should not be confused with the nearby but much older (1928) Atlantic View Hotel (now called the Atlantic Inn). At some point the motel became the property (they don't appear to have been the orignal owners) of a couple named Peele who operated it until they sold it in 1999. I doubt the motel itself was a big money maker but the land it was on seems to have become quite valuable. This land appears to have been a strip about 200 feet wide and 1500 feet long between Route 12 and the Atlantic Ocean dune line. The motel was about 500 feet in from route 12 so didn't actually have much of an Atlantic view (although of course the ocean was just a short walk away).

After the property was sold a dead end road was built down the middle and the property was subdivided into building lots. This included 3 ocean front lots which appear to have been worth at least $400,000 each and about 9 also valuable oceanside lots. Somewhat to my surprise the motel building still exists (although considerably altered in appearance). It was converted into 8 condominium apartments.

The road is called "Atlantic View Drive", the subdivsion "Atlantic View Estates" and the condominiums "Atlantic View Villas" all of which should have been a clue that this was connected with the former Atlantic View Motel. However for some reason I wasn't expecting a new road and it wasn't until I found an old tourist map without the road that I realized what had happened.