it was waterfront property but this is rediculas.

[We used to summer at Rediculas. - Dave]

It's the Croatan Shoal light in North Carolina. Click for info.

This is an example of a screw-pile lighthouse, of which indeed only a few remain. The did indeed screw the pilings into the bottom. They were particularly popular in the Chesapeake Bay region, but they saw use in NC and along the gulf coast too, and there are a number of monster versions along the Florida coast.

They were actually pretty tough in the face of storms, particularly since they were mostly used in more sheltered locations where they didn't have to deal with ocean storm waves. Their real nemesis (besides the USCG, which tended to remove the house once they became automated) was ice, which would ride up the piles and push the house off the foundation. There were several instances in which the house ended up being carried down the bay, occupants and all.

I can't identify this particular light with any certainty, but it might be the Lower Cedar Point Light on the lower Potomac River.