Oceanfront Flagler Beach: dunes, walkovers and blowing sand
An oceanfront house in Flagler Beach has two faces: the one on A1A that everyone drives past, and the one facing the sea that almost nobody sees. The ocean side is where the dune, the walkover and the deck take the weather, and it changes most between visits. This guide explains what happens on the ocean side of a Flagler Beach lot, and which home watch views show it to an owner far away.
Two faces of an oceanfront house
Along much of Flagler Beach, A1A runs right behind the oceanfront houses, so the street side of each house is its back: the drive, the garage, the entrance and the AC unit. The front of the house, with its windows, decks and porches, faces east over the dune to the beach.
From A1A, photos show the street side well: the roof line, the drive, the entrance, the plantings and anything parked or left out. They show nothing of the deck, the dune or the walkover.
For an owner who wants to see the ocean side, there are two views: from the open grounds of the lot, walking around the house to the deck and the top of the walkover, and from the air, with one aerial video of the whole lot from A1A to the waterline. The main site's Flagler Beach photo guide describes the oceanfront in more detail.
The dune in front of the house
The dune is a living thing. Sea oats, railroad vine and beach grasses hold its sand in place, and the wind adds a little sand most days and takes a little back. In calm months a healthy dune grows; in a storm it can lose a great deal in a few hours, leaving a steep cut face called a scarp.
State law and local rules also cover the dune. Walking on it, cutting its plants or building on it without approval is not allowed, which is why owners reach the beach by a walkover rather than a path through the sand.
From the open grounds, photos show the landward side of the dune and the top of the walkover. From the air, the whole dune shows at once: its height, its plants, any scarp along its face, and how it compares with the dunes in front of the neighbors on either side, kept to the edges of the frame. The main site's questions and answers explain what the aerial visit covers.
Walkovers and beach stairs
A dune walkover is a raised wooden walkway that carries people from the house over the dune and down to the beach without trampling it. In Flagler Beach many oceanfront lots have one, and they take a beating: sun dries and splits the boards, salt works on the screws and fasteners, and storms can wash out the stairs at the beach end or lift whole sections off their posts.
A walkover that is damaged in a storm is often noticed only when the owner next walks down to the beach. By then it may have been unusable for weeks.
From the open grounds, a photo shows the start of the walkover and as much of it as can be seen from the lot. From the air, the whole length shows, including the stairs to the sand at the far end. Photos show how the walkover looks on the date; they never say whether it can be walked on. The main site's guide to photos after a storm describes the frames to compare.
Blowing sand on drives, decks and AC units
On a windy day in Flagler Beach, sand moves. It blows off the dry beach, over the dune and across decks, drives and A1A itself. It drifts against the garage door, piles in the corners of the deck, fills the tracks of sliding doors and builds up around the base of the AC unit.
Sand left in place holds moisture and salt against whatever it covers. Around an AC unit it can work into the fins; on a deck it wears the finish; in a drive it can bury the edge of the pavement and the curb.
A set of photos after a windy week shows where sand has gathered on both sides of the house. Many owners have the sand swept or blown off after each set that shows it, before it builds up. The main site's guide to the street set lists the frames on the street side, including the drive and the garage door.
Decks, railings and the ocean side
The deck on the ocean side of a Flagler Beach house takes more weather than any other part of it. It faces the morning sun and the full onshore wind, catches spray on rough days, and collects sand from the dune. Wooden decks gray and split in the sun; railings loosen as fasteners corrode; furniture left out fades and blows around.
Because the deck faces away from A1A, it is out of sight to anyone passing, and owners far away often do not know what state it is in until they arrive. Furniture blown against a railing, a cushion washed down onto the dune, or a gate on the deck stairs left swinging are common findings after a windy spell.
From the open grounds, photos show the deck, its railings and its furniture as they stand. The main site's guide to reading delivered photos shows how to look along a railing from one set to the next.
Sea turtle season on the beach
From May through October, sea turtles nest on Flagler County's beaches, and Flagler Beach is one of the places they come ashore. Nests are marked with stakes and tape by volunteers, and the hatchlings that emerge at night find the ocean by its light. Bright lights from houses on the dune can lead them the wrong way.
Because of that, beachfront lighting during nesting season is limited by local rules: lights visible from the beach are meant to be off, shielded or of a type turtles do not follow. Owners who are away often set timers and replace fixtures before the season.
Daytime photos cannot show what lights do at night, but they do show the fixtures on the ocean side of the house as they are, so an owner can see what is mounted where. The main site's Flagler Beach guide has more about the town's beach.
What one aerial video shows of an oceanfront lot
On a Drone visit, a drone lifts off from the public street, films the lot from above in one video, and comes back down to the street. On an oceanfront lot in Flagler Beach, it is the only view that shows both faces of the house at once: the roof, the drive and the street side, then the deck, the dune, the walkover and the beach in front.
The video is framed on the owner's lot, keeps neighboring houses and people out of the picture as far as possible, and never records into a window. Flights depend on the weather and the airspace on the day; a windy day on the beach can move a flight to the next calm one.
Many oceanfront owners take an aerial video at the start of storm season and again after any storm that reaches the dune. The FlaglerPropertyWatch.com home page describes the drone visit and how the video is delivered.
When the beach itself changes
The beach in front of a Flagler Beach house is not fixed. Storms pull sand offshore and leave the beach narrow and steep; calm summers bring some of it back. Over the past decade, sections of the beach and dune in town have been rebuilt with sand brought in from offshore, and further work is planned as storms take it away again.
For an owner far away, these changes can be hard to picture. A beach that was wide last spring may be narrow this fall; a dune that was rebuilt may have grown sea oats or lost some of its sand.
An aerial video once or twice a year shows the beach and dune in front of the house as they are on the date, and two videos a year apart show the change. The main site's hurricane season guide explains how storms reshape the coast of the county.
A plan for an oceanfront owner away
Owners of oceanfront houses in Flagler Beach who live away often settle on a plan like this. A street set every month for the street side of the house, from A1A. A grounds set every two or three months for the deck, the AC unit and the top of the walkover. An aerial video at the start of storm season, and again after any storm or strong northeaster that reaches the dune. And a full set before they arrive for a stay.
The street and grounds sets can repeat on a schedule, and the aerial videos are added when the weather calls for them. Over a year or two, the sets and videos show both faces of the house and the dune in front of it, dated and kept.
To plan photos for an oceanfront house, visit the Flagler Beach home watch page on FlaglerPropertyWatch.com.