WELLFLEET, Mass. (AP) — A luxury home that had been on the verge of tumbling into Cape Cod Bay due to erosion has been demolished.
A potential collapse of the 5,100-square-foot home threatened oyster beds in nearby Wellfleet Harbor, but a dispute over its removal had left it teetering on the edge of a sandy bluff for months. But on Monday, heavy machinery rolled in to remove the house piece by piece, with trucks carrying it away. By Tuesday, only its concrete slab, chimney and a generator remained.
“On one side, it is sad because it was a beautiful house that became a landmark in that place," said John Cobler, a member of the Wellfleet Environmental Commission. “On the other, I am happy that it is gone. It is a great relief for our town and for our environment.”
Cobler said attorneys for owner John Bonomi filed a request with the town last week to remove the house. An attorney for Bonomi declined to comment to The Associated Press.
The house was built in 2010 on the bay side of the Cape Cod peninsula. Its original owners sought permission in 2018 to build a seawall to stave off erosion. The commission rejected the seawall out of concern for unintended effects on the beach and how water carries nutrients in the bay. They also questioned whether it would save the house.
In 2019, Bonomi, a New York attorney, bought the house for $5.5 million.
Meanwhile, the erosion advanced. A report prepared for Wellfleet last year estimated the house would fall down the bluff within three years, potentially sending debris into a harbor where shellfish farmers grow the town’s namesake oysters, and the environment commission asked Bonomi for a plan to remove the house.
Just a week before the demolition, strong winds battered the cape for three days, exposing more of the home's concrete pillars.
An attorney for Bonomi had told the commission at its January meeting that the house had been sold to a salvage company that would not fund removal of the house. But the town's conservation agent noted at the time that no transfer of deed had been recorded, and a check of records Tuesday also found no record of sale.
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