Certification Begins Long Before the First Guest Arrives
The 76A Ocean Boulevard Case Study
One of the fundamental principles of the Council for Vacation Property Certification (CVPC) is that a property’s long-term Condition Grade is largely determined before construction is ever completed.
76A Ocean Boulevard in Southern Shores, North Carolina, represents a practical example of this philosophy.
The seven-bedroom oceanfront home currently under construction is being developed with certification-oriented thinking incorporated from the earliest stages of planning and design. Rather than treating certification as an end-of-project evaluation, the development team is using certification standards as a guide throughout the entire process.
This approach recognizes that many of the factors influencing future property condition are locked in during design and construction.
Material selection, structural detailing, moisture management, corrosion resistance, maintainability, accessibility of building systems, finish durability, and lifecycle replacement planning all play critical roles in determining how a property will perform over time.
A newly completed home may initially appear impressive regardless of how it was built. The real test comes years later.
Can the home still achieve a Like-New Condition Grade after 10 years?
Can it maintain that grade after 15 years?
Can it remain in exceptional condition after 20 years of oceanfront exposure and heavy rental use?
Those questions are at the heart of the CVPC framework.
At 76A Ocean Boulevard, the development team is intentionally making construction and design decisions that support long-term condition preservation. The objective is to create an asset capable of maintaining superior physical condition, guest experience, and investment performance for decades through disciplined maintenance and periodic renewal.
The project demonstrates an important concept for vacation rental owners, builders, architects, and developers:
The highest certification grades are not achieved through maintenance alone. They are enabled through thoughtful design, quality construction, and long-term planning from the very beginning.
As construction advances, CVPC will continue documenting the project as a real-world example of how certification principles can be integrated throughout the development lifecycle to create homes that remain among the best-performing vacation properties in their market for many years to come.
When the heirs to one of Outer Banks largest landowners decided to sell an oceanfront lot in Southern Shores it marked the end of a three-year wait for Gary & Rebecca Woodson. They had sold a few beach houses in preparation of building an oceanfront. Thinking it might take them up to six months they had no idea their wait would be over three years just to find the land.
76A Ocean Boulevard is a special place and Billy Roughton, who passed away about 10 years ago, had a special affection for prime oceanfront property. More accurately he was an astute real estate investor that understood the best real estate to own. This included the Home Depot, a car dealership, hotels, and a lot of OBX beach property.
The new 7-bedroom beach house currently under construction looks over the ocean, with some of the most secluded beaches on the Outer Banks. Many tourists on their way to Corolla don’t realize as they pass-thru Southern Shores, it is a special village. While lacking the quaint Duck and Corolla shops, it is favored by year-round residents and second-home owners that spend their entire summer on the Outer Banks.
76A will not disappoint the discerning guests. Twenty years of building and owning beach houses; the Woodson’s understand the importance of details and not skimping on the construction budget. That includes quality of materials so the house looks just the same in 15 years as it does the day completed. But also modern day touches such as indirect lighting throughout the house and outside by the pool. And modern whole house sound and entertainment systems.
Anticipated completion is before Christmas 2026. Check back for monthly updates.