Our History
The Cavalier Motor Court….
was the original name. “Motor Court” derived from the fact that you could drive all the way around the court. Young Roy and Dot Wescott had a dream of building a motel on the beach – a place where families would love to vacation. Land was purchased and construction started in 1949.
The motor court was opened for business on Memorial Day weekend in 1950. In the beginning, it had only 19 separate flat-roofed units. Cottage number one was the office and living quarters for the Wescotts and their children.
A couple of years later the current office, manager’s apartment, economy rooms, and the rest of the poolside rooms were built. In 1955 the pools were added. By the late 1950s, oceanfront rooms were added, and by the early 1960s, all the units received brick siding and new adjoined, peaked roofs, resulting in the charming look that remains today.
In the early 1960s, Mr. Wescott and partners built the Port O’Call Restaurant across the street to provide a convenient place for Cavalier guests to eat as there were very few restaurants on the Outer Banks in those days. This was sold some years later. Visit our office and view this story in the pictures displayed.
After over 60 years, Roy and Dot Wescott’s dream is still thriving and their family continues to make sure that The Cavalier is a place where families still love to come to make lasting memories together.
Today, The Cavalier By The Sea…
is an oceanfront resort with fifty-three units, where families come back to meet with old and new friends generation after generation.
Fourteen units face the ocean and one of the widest beaches on the Outer Banks with nothing to block your view. In these units, seven of which are efficiencies, you can choose to sit on your porch in the adirondack chair, watching the sunrise over the ocean, or gaze out of your picture window without leaving the comfort of your air-conditioned room.
The other forty units form a u-shaped court with convenient parking right in front of your porch. These units face the pools, 1 large and 1 kiddie, and a spacious grassy courtyard. The courtyard is filled with child and adult activity areas including a children’s playground and shuffleboard court, horseshoes, and bean-bag toss.
There are picnic tables and an area for grilling and it is here that we hold our free weekly hot dog cookout from the week of July 5th through the second week in August – to give your cook and your wallet a night off.
Our wide beach provides plenty of space for suntanning, frisbee, kite flying, fishing, playing volleyball (we provide the ball and the net), or just relaxing.
We strive to maintain a friendly, family atmosphere where you feel at home and make lifelong friendships and memories.