1896 New River Inlet, Unit 1413North Topsail Beach, NC 28460Price: $414,900

Unit 1413 at Shipwatch Villas is not just a penthouse, it is the penthouse. The original. Owned since 1984 by the very first resident to call this building home, a founding member of the HOA who helped shape the community that surrounds it, and now, for the first time in four decades, available to someone new. Step inside and feel it immediately. Soaring vaulted ceilings and transom windows flood the top floor with the quality of coastal light that only this level can access. Bird's eye view of the Atlantic Ocean AND the complex oceanside pool. Rattan furnishings, sailing ships, coastal art, and the kind of carefully curated vintage beach aesthetic that designers spend years trying to recreate, and never quite do, fill every room with a warmth and character that zero other units in this building can claim. This home was loved. It shows in every corner. Two spacious bedrooms. Two full baths. An open living and dining space anchored by those signature penthouse ceilings that stretch toward the sky. Private oceanfront balcony with direct access from both the living room and the primary bedroom, the sound of the Atlantic is never more than a few steps away from wherever you are. And because this was always a cherished personal retreat, never once offered as a rental in forty years of ownership, it arrives in pristine, meticulously maintained condition that will stop buyers mid-tour. When the evening calls for dinner out, Ocean's Edge Restaurant and Aarr Pirate Bar at the St. Regis Resort are a short walk up New River Inlet Road. Panoramic oceanfront dining and sunset cocktails without moving your car. The community delivers the rest: an oceanfront pool, direct private beach boardwalk access, outdoor grilling areas, rinse-off shower station, pet-friendly policy, and elevator service to every floor. There are newer penthouses at Shipwatch Villas. There are renovated penthouses. But there is only one original, only one unit that has watched this community grow from its very first day, cared for by the hands that helped build it. Unit 1413 is not a flip. It is not a project. It is forty years of coastal living distilled into one extraordinary top-floor address, offered now, with great care, to whoever falls in love with it next. Professional photos in the coming days.