The home was once owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and was subject to a hastened attempt late last week by the homeowner to stabilize its pilings and prevent a total loss after a January 17th storm eroded nearly 20 feet of beach from the front of the property. A 2016 profile of the beach community published by The Seattle Times revealed a rare “managed retreat” organized amongst the locals. The town said the owners have made plans to move back their property in a press statement released just prior to the storm. 

The $1.5 million property was almost entirely fronted by a large dune only only a few short months ago which has now almost completely eroded, leaving a dramatic impression on anyone with an eye on the disappearing backside of the Cape’s 70-mile shoreline. Globally, similar beaches are expected to lose about 22,430 miles of sand to erosion over the next 30 years, a figure that will nearly triple by the end of the century. 

Drone footage of house nearly falling into the Ocean at Ballston Beach, MA after big round of coastal erosion from this weekend's bomb cyclone. House survived high tide last night, but 6 new pylons have been exposed @accuweather pic.twitter.com/qB3VNtmrJ4
— Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) January 30, 2022

“The erosion on the backside, especially on Truro and Ballston, is significant,” the homeowners’ attorney told the Globe. “It’s not a couple of feet. It’s 20, 30, 60 feet in one storm, laterally. It’s huge. Where those houses are relative to the escarpment, the landowners can tell you on a daily basis. It’s like looking at a cross-section of someone’s brain.”