Nights of Rodanthe House Revisited

It’s time for another visit to the house starring in the film, "Nights in Rodanthe." Millions of people have been entranced by the beautiful, rustic Inn, rising above the sand and water – a memorable backdrop for the romance written by Nicholas Sparks.

First of all, I want to set the record straight -- Diane Lane is the actress who charmingly played opposite Richard Gere in this popular movie. A thousand apologies for using the incorrect last name for Ms. Lane in my previous article.

Let me add a complimentary tidbit about this fair actress. When I visited the Dress Barn at the Tanger Outlet in Nags Head, one of the salesladies told me that Diane Lane had shopped in that store during the filming. After Ms. Lane arrived in the Outer Banks, the weather turned warm and she didn’t have the proper clothing with her. Visiting the store to buy shorts, she wore a billed cap pulled low over her face.

When one of the women in the store said, "Are you Diane Lane?" She answered yes and said she’d hoped no one would recognize her since she didn’t even have on any make-up. The woman telling me the story said, "I laughed and told her, ‘honey, anybody who looks as good as you do doesn’t need make-up!"

Now, moving on to a less embarrassing subject. Some of my readers have asked about the location of the famous house. Approximately 30 miles south of Nags Head, North Carolina, the small village of Rodanthe sits astride the narrow sand peninsula known as Cape Hatteras National Seashore in the Outer Banks. After crossing over the Oregan Inlet Bridge and traveling slightly over ten miles, the three-story, wooden house, built in 1988, is the first house you will see on the ocean side. A wooden sign on the opposite side of the road reads "Mirlo Beach."

The photo I snapped and chose to include with this article shows exactly how the house looked in September 2008 (the movie was filmed in May 2007).

Another item of note about the house in the film is that none of the interior shots were filmed in the house at Rodanthe. I don’t know how they managed to seamlessly shoot scenes through windows and such (ah, the modern wonders of the digital world). The interior scenes were actually filmed in a house in Wilmington, NC. Numerous other scenes in the movie, however, were filmed on the Outer Banks.

The Inn at Rodanthe is actually called "Serendipity" by its true owners and until recently it was available for rent just like its neighbors. A storm with high waters damaged the septic system – not a very romantic situation for THE house. They are still hopeful that it can pass inspection and once again be available for rent.

In spite of the fact that the handsome blue shutters, porch addition, a number of trees, and tons of sand are no longer part of the house, Serendipity still stands proud and sturdy – awash in ever-encroaching seawater. Whatever the future holds for this well-known house, its strength and beauty have been captured on film and immortalized forever.