Sea views are at the top of many house-hunters' wishlists. But while the ocean may look beautiful from your windows, proximity to the waves can come at a devastating cost, as the owner of this unfortunate beach house on the shores of Rodanthe, North Carolina discovered. Click or scroll on to find out how the once-picturesque property sadly succumbed to the deep blue sea...

Before it was taken by the waves, the coastal residence was a prime piece of real estate on North Carolina's Outer Banks, a popular vacation spot on the east coast of the US. Pictured here back in 2020, the attractive clapboard home was perched on a stretch of golden sand metres from the ocean, though over the next few years the shoreline would recede and the tide would creep ever closer.

Featuring three bathrooms and three bedrooms, the home offered homely, comfortable accommodation, with a wood-clad open-plan living room framed by airy, vaulted ceilings. Unfortunately, the property was last sold in November 2020, meaning the new owner had less than two years in the house before it was swept out to sea.

From one of the two covered exterior decks, you can really appreciate just how close the waterfront was to the residence. But while having the beach on your doorstep sounds like a real estate dream, it also puts you at the whim of Mother Nature. In what now reads like ominous foreshadowing, the old listing even mentions that the home underwent repairs after sustaining damage from storms in 2019...

Fast-forward to May 2022 and the now-unoccupied property was in a far more perilous position. Water surrounded the structure and the ground-floor deck had already been wrenched away by the ocean. A video of the home's final moments was captured by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park Service and posted on Twitter. On the right, you can see the support columns buckle under the pressure of the waves.

With its stilts torn from beneath it, the house became completely waterborne and was swept up by the tumultuous tide. The ocean made short work of the wooden structure, ripping away the right side of the property in a matter of seconds as it was buffeted further away from the shore. It's hard to believe that this sorry wreck was sold for $275,000 (£222k) just 18 months ago.

As it was cast further out to sea, the churn of the North Atlantic Ocean began to crumble the left side of the property too, caving in the rear ground-floor wall and peeling away the front door. According to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park Service, it was the second house to collapse that day. The shocking video is a powerful reminder of how destructive Mother Nature can be, especially when combined with the effects of global warming, which has seen sea levels across the world rise and lengths of shoreline swallowed up. 

Read on to discover more homes struggling to stand up to the ocean 

Living by the sea can come at a price; the relentless onslaught of wind and water will take its toll over the years, sometimes taking away the very floor beneath your feet for some unlucky homeowners. From coastal erosion to vicious hurricanes and devastating 'king tides', click or scroll on to discover more unfortunate houses that have fallen victim to the elements...

The quaint seaside town of Wimereux in northern France was nearly consumed by the waves in January 2018 when Storm Eleanor rolled into its bay, sending staggering tidal waves towards its seafront homes. The European windstorm caused extensive damage throughout Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

In the wake of Storm Eleanor, a man examines Wimereux's damaged seawall, which crumbled under the power of the waves. Slabs of concrete, which were dislodged from the barrier, were found scattered across the seafront, while the homes above the bay thankfully escaped without major damage.

This isn't the first time that Wimereux has been affected by flooding. Back in 2007, homes lining the port were once again subjected to severe storms. Pictured here, fearsome gale-force winds gusting up to 87 miles per hour lashed the coastline, creating perilous conditions for motorists and pedestrians.

This house in the Alaskan village of Shishmaref, located some 600 miles northwest of Anchorage and just 110 miles from the east coast of Russia, tipped over due to the eroded shoreline. Home to the Inupiat Eskimos, the century-old settlement may have to be evacuated if this devastating erosion continues.

The cause of Shishmaref's problems boils down to climate change. The temperature in the village has grown significantly over the past 30 years, causing sea ice to melt and the permafrost that surrounds the coastline to thaw. Because of this, the Chukchi Sea, which surrounds the island, no longer freezes before the region's powerful autumn storms strike, allowing the wind and waves to wreak havoc on the island and displace houses such as this.

Over the course of just ten years, the remote island has seen hundreds of feet of its shoreline disappear thanks to these brutal storms, while several houses have been washed away. Around 19 homes to date have also reportedly been moved away from the coastline for protection, though as the shore recedes, the relocation will not keep the properties out of harm's way for good.

In this dramatic photograph, sections of land are seen missing from the backyards of coastal properties in Pacifica, California in January 2016. Storms and powerful waves caused by El Niño intensified erosion along nearby coastal bluffs and beaches in the area, leaving these homes teetering on the brink of a cliff drop.

Elsewhere in Pacifica in the same year, these apartment buildings were seen balancing perilously close to the edge of an eroding cliff. Homeowners here were forced to evacuate their properties as storms and powerful waves caused structures to become unstable, with the coastline washing away beneath their very foundations. 

The catastrophic erosion has left many of the homes here uninhabitable and some have even been demolished. Three years later in 2019, Pacifica was hit once again by a high wave, caused by an ocean surge and a king tide, which caused even more devastation. It's no surprise that the town has become known as ground zero for coastal erosion.

Imagine watching as your home and all of your belongings tumbled into the ocean before your very eyes. That's exactly what happened in March 2018, when the clifftop houses of The Marrams in Hemsby, Norfolk, were evacuated as the ground crumbled under the onslaught of the sea.

This home is pictured just after the evacuation, which was triggered by high winds and waves eroding the sand dunes beneath its foundations. The edge of the cliff is previously close to the property's structure, making habitation no longer an option for its owners. Inside the property, the lights have been left on, suggesting the residents left in a hurry.

After three days of high tides and strong winds, the community's 13 homes were getting closer to the ocean's edge. By the time the storm had subsided, five homes had to be demolished by the council as they were deemed unsafe. The effect of climate change on coastal erosion has put around 370,000 houses in danger in the UK alone. 

Nine beachfront homes overlooking the glittering shores of northern Sydney took a battering from an intense storm in 2016, prompting a deluge of erosion that sent whole swimming pools and balconies clattering into the South Pacific Ocean. The community of Collaroy Beach was particularly affected by the devastation, which is home to an array of expensive luxury residences.

This stretch of formerly plush beach homes on the coast might be known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’, but many of the people living here didn’t have insurance cover for storm surges, leaving them with extortionate repair bills to pay. To make matters worse, two subsequent storms further eroded the shoreline in July 2020.

In response to the receding sand dunes, a new seawall was constructed in Collaroy Beach in 2021. Jointly funded by the private and public sector, the defence cost $25 million (£20m) to build and it's hoped that the investment will help protect the properties perched along this stretch from rising sea levels and the fierce storms known to strike this coastline.

Erosion plagues the shrinking shores of the historic English village of Happisburgh in Norfolk too. Huge chunks of this bungalow on the UK’s North Sea coast fell into the choppy waters below following the catastrophic tidal surges that rocked the coastline in 2013.

One side of the 1930s building was left in tatters on the beach. The woman who lived in the stricken building was forced to move into temporary accommodation across the road. Until 2013, Bryony Nierop-Reading was the only resident of the street left after her neighbours vacated their properties three years earlier to avoid the incoming erosion.

With one side of the building left dangling over the cliffs, the local council were forced to order the demolition of the building before the rest of the bungalow was swallowed by the sea. Ms Nierop-Reading declined the offer of compensation from Norfolk County Council and continued living in a caravan onsite until the bulldozers arrived. The demolition was complete by the end of 2013. 

Built in 1888, this was the last remaining house on Holland Island, a rapidly eroding piece of marshland in Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Maryland. Once the most populated community in the area, its sinking land surface is now destined to be consumed by the sea.

Back in 1910, the island had just over 360 residents, many of whom worked in the bustling local fishing industry. There were around 70 homes, stores and other buildings, but the community was abandoned around 1918 after a tropical storm damaged several buildings and erosion began to affect the west side of the isle.

The empty buildings on Holland Island were exposed to the elements for more than 80 years. Even the efforts of a local conservationist couldn’t save the last house standing and the saltwater slowly hollowed out its lower floors, before the whole structure fell into the Atlantic Ocean in October 2010. 

When Hurricane Matthew swept Florida's east coast in October 2016, the community of Vilano Beach bore much of the brunt of its destructive power. A storm surge and staggering waves runup washed away a 16-foot sand dune, washing away boardwalks and decks and exposing the seawall, as well as endangering many properties in the town. 

Pictured in the days following the hurricane, the foundations of this clapboard beach house crumbled from beneath it, exposing structural supports and leaving concrete slabs from the backyard fragmented on the sand below. More than 177 miles of beach were wiped out by the crippling storm surges.

Elsewhere, this plush coastal home was also left in disarray as a result of the hurricane. The damage caused by the sheer strength of Hurricane Matthew sent shockwaves across this part of northern Florida, with many homes lost to the Atlantic Ocean or wrecked beyond all repair. 

The stretch of coastline where this toppled building lies repeatedly lives up to its name, with all kinds of buildings washed away by the ocean each year. Washaway Beach, in the community of North Cove, Washington, is so exposed that it was named the fastest eroding place on the west coast of the US.

This interior shot of the abandoned home shows the sheer extent of the damage the Pacific Ocean has wrought. The cause of the erosion stems from a number of factors, but it started with the dredging of the Columbia River back in the 1870s. The river was later dammed in the 1930s in order to generate hydroelectricity, a process that gradually eroded the sandbank that protected North Cove from the waves, leaving it exposed to the ocean's wrath.

This one-storey beachfront home really didn't stand a chance. Even the robust pine trees that are native to the state of Washington aren’t strong enough to withstand the power of the Pacific. Powerful winter storms over the past century have seen the destruction of over 50 homes, a schoolhouse, a Coast Guard station and a lighthouse, plus almost two miles of land.

Over in Nantucket, near Cape Cod in Massachusetts, it's a similar story. Despite the owner’s best efforts, this building has been slowly moving towards the edge of the sand. Who knows where this home will end up, but one thing is for certain; the shifting sands mean it's going to be difficult to keep it in one place. 

Coastal erosion is nothing new for this vacation destination, and the ever-shrinking dunes have left many homes perched on the brink of the shoreline, with little defense against the brunt of the region's storms. Back in 2007, Hurricane Noel hit Nantucket, leaving devastation in its wake. You can see here how this traditional shingle house was lifted from its foundations and left to subside into the sand.

While the area may be known for its billionaire beach houses, real estate here is seemingly at the whim of Mother Nature. Winter storms and hurricanes are commonplace for this island community. In fact, Sconset Bluff in eastern Nantucket has eroded between three and four feet each year over the past 20 to 30 years. 

Tropical cyclone Hurricane Ophelia wreaked havoc on the shores of North Topsail Beach back in September 2005. The North Carolina town found itself significantly smaller following the storm, which washed away yards of beachfront, leaving some properties standing in the ocean on their bare foundations.

Here, waves are seen breaking under more exposed houses in North Topsail Beach. More than a dozen homes in the north of the community have had to be relocated or moved over the past few decades. In the worst-affected regions of the town, the shoreline is eroding as much as 100 feet each year.

These luxury homes are pictured just before the arrival of Hurricane Florence in September 2018. Since 2014, North Topsail Beach has been awarded an emergency permit to build sandbag barricades along the northern coast of the town to shield properties from storm damage. To reduce the speed of the erosion, the town is proposing the construction of a jetty-like structure perpendicular to the shore to defend against destructive currents and waves.

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