It’s a modern but increasingly common dilemma: You want a Florida home on the water but are afraid that a hurricane's storm surge will destroy it.
Fortunately, the house at 110 Ocean Way Drive in Ponce Inlet was built to withstand major storms. The home is on the market for $1.85 million.
“It’s literally built like a bunker all the way to the third floor,” said Dayanis Purucker of Oceans Luxury Realty in Daytona Beach, who is handling the listing for the seller. “I joke that, if the world ends, that’s where people will find me hiding.”
The three-story, 4,814-square-foot home is built with ICF blocks, specialized reinforced building materials of concrete and foam.
"ICFs have several advantages; they are durable and resistant to hazards and natural disasters and reduce energy consumption ... compared to traditional building materials," according to a report by the University of Pittsburgh in the Journal of Green Building.
The blocks are also pest-resistant and can handle wind and debris at more than 200 miles per hour, according to a report in ICF Builder magazine.
But that extra security comes with a higher price tag.
“They are very expensive and require a very particular type of craft to build with,” Purucker said.
Purucker said the home, built in 2012, is the creation of owners Antje and Hans-Juergen Kiesow. “That home is a compilation of features that they both wanted,” she said. “They’re very analytical. They think about things in ways that we wouldn’t.”
Safety isn’t the only feature of this four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home. Built-in wooden bookshelves line the walls in several rooms, from the downstairs sitting room and library to the bedrooms to the top floor office and living room.
"The sunlight, filtered through the trees and streaming into our library in the afternoon is simply dreamlike," Antje said.
And the reinforced walls aren’t just keeping the bad things out of the house; they are trapping the temperature inside, making it an energy-efficient home. Antje said the large mature trees on the lot also help with cooling.
The half-acre estate sits on the east side of Volusia County’s barrier island, overlooking the Halifax River. It is less than half a mile from the ocean and nearly adjacent to the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse.
Antje said the friendliness of the neighborhood was "an unexpected gift."