Beacon's Reach
Introduction
Beacon's Reach is a community of more than 450 condominiums, town houses and single-family homes located in Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina. Situated in a beautiful island setting, it is bordered on the South by the Atlantic ocean and on the North by Bogue Sound, which separates it from the mainland, two miles away.
Residences are nestled among low, twisted Live Oak trees that comprise the maritime forest, providing shade and natural beauty, as well as erosion resistance for the wind-swept sand dunes.
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Beacon's Reach beach at high tide |
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The name Beacon's Reach was chosen because if you look East-South-East from the beach
at night, you can just make out the flash of the warning beacon once every 15 seconds
as it rotates atop the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, nineteen miles away.
The famous lighthouse, with its distinctive diamond pattern paint and powerful
Fresnel lens, has been warning mariners to steer clear of the
outer bank's infamous shoals, the "graveyard of the Atlantic", for over 140 years.
Beacon's Reach provides an abundance of family recreation-oriented amenities, including pools, tennis and basketball courts, and a private marina with ramp, slips and fenced boat storage areas. Just across the sound from the channel entrance to the marina is the intercoastal waterway, stretching from Virginia to Key West Florida. A fifteen minute boat ride to the East brings you to Beaufort Inlet, the gateway to the Atlantic and some of the best recreational fishing anywhere. |
Cape Lookout Lighthouse
Photo © 2004 Bruce Carbrey
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Marina at Nightfall
Photo © 2004 Bruce Carbrey
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The Roosevelt's Vision
In 1918, the property on which Beacon's Reach (and the town of Pine Knoll Shores) now stands was purchased by Alice Hoffman, and was inherited by Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and her children in 1953. With vision years ahead of their time, theRoosevelts formulated the development of a town that would preserve the natural beauty of the area. With the aid of consultants and engineering firms, they mapped out a long term development plan that would safeguard natural areas including the 300 acres of undeveloped land that is the Roosevelt Natural Area, adjacent to what is now the NC Aquarium.The development of Beacon's Reach began in 1978 on about 180 acres to the West of the Roosevelt Natural Area. The first condominiums built were oceanfront units in Ocean Grove. Soon others sprang up in designated areas, along with landscaped trails, in keeping with the master plan devised by the Roosevelts. Single-family residences were added to the mix, adding architectural diversity and more year-round residents.
Management
There are twelve separate subdivisions in Beacon's Reach, each with its own homeowners association, but operating under the umbrella of the Beacon's Reach Master Association (BRMA). Each association elects one member to the board of directors, which meets quarterly. The continuing success of Beacon's Reach has resulted from the contributions of its volunteer board members and committees, and on the dedication of its paid full-time management staff headed by Grady Fulcher. Like Pine Knoll Shores itself, Beacon's Reach has a strong tradition of volunteerism to maintain and improve the quality of life, that has made it arguably the premier community on the Crystal Coast.
