Roundhouses Beating Hurricanes: North Carolina’s Deltec Homes Are Built to Last

When Hurricane Milton recently tore through Florida‘s Crystal River, most homes took a beating–except one. Gene Tener‘s circular house stood strong, a testament to its unique design. Tener‘s home is one of 3,000 hurricane-resistant structures built by Deltec Homes, a North Carolina company changing the face of coastal living with their storm-proof, prefabricated roundhouses.

The Science Behind the Shape
But Deltec‘s secret ammunition is its cylinder-inspired, aerodynamically-driven design: houses built on heavy-duty, bedrock-anchored stilts, with a conical roof that diverts forceful winds. Since the structure is rounded, there’s no flat surface for wind to grab onto. The structure of the house interior is patterned like a bicycle wheel: trusses extend out in all directions like spokes, consistently distributing wind force across the structure. That makes Deltec homes capable of withstanding winds up to 190 mph–well beyond a Category 5 hurricane.

A Safe Haven with Savings
Gene Tener‘s house has withstood three major hurricanes: Hurricanes Idalia, Milton, and Debby. While his house was twice as expensive as an average house in his neighborhood, the insurance savings for Tener were huge-foregoing a $12,000 flood insurance premium this year alone. The investment, however, seems to have been worth it-not only in terms of safety but also for long-term financial returns.

Deltec homes start at about $600,000, topping out well over $2 million depending on location, size and extra features such as porches and decks. But for many homeowners, peace of mind comes at a price that’s hard to quantify.

Building the Future of Resilient Housing
“We wanted to create the home of the future–something that would last for hundreds of years,” says Steve Linton, President of Deltec Homes. Building homes that can outlast any kind of storm is more important today than it’s ever been, as climate change intensifies and frequencies increase. In fact, according to CoreLogic, more than 32.7 million homes nationwide carry the risk of hurricane wind damage, with a reconstruction cost value of more than $10.8 trillion.

Deltec‘s roundhouses boast a 99.9% survival rate when it comes to hurricanes. Minor damages may occur, like loss of shingles or crackings in hurricane-rated windows; however, major structural failures are few. The whole process–design through assembly-lasts about 20 months, with a year for prefabrication and about 8 months for initial planning.

Scenic Views to Storm Shields
The iconic round design of Deltec homes was not for storm protection initially. Pre-1980s, the company focused on panoramic ocean views when it chose the circular shape for its homes. It wasn’t until after Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew hit in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that they realized they had inadvertently built a superior storm-resistant design.

Those storms were a wake-up call,” remembers Linton. “We saw how much better Deltec homes performed compared to traditional structures, and that‘s when we started focusing on storm-proofing.”

Today, Deltec Homes stand tall as beacons of hope for people living in the coastal areas-proof that with just a little ingenuity, homes can be beautiful, yet weather even the fiercest of storms.

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Yaw Asante

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