With the backyard bluff disappearing, a Wellfleet, Massachusetts, cottage is in retreat.
Ezra Ambrose, a field supervisor said, “We moved the house back about 20 feet, and slid it over in the house corner.”
This four week project is the latest of several just like it. It will involve putting the house on pilings to give it more flexibility.
"The dune can erode underneath the house and give the homeowner a little longer to live in the house while it does that," said Ambrose.
With the bluff in the area washing away at 1-2 feet a year, the homeowners hope to enjoy another decade by the sea. However, they know they’re at the mercy of mother nature.
Kim Shkapich, of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, says, “Everything here is really at risk at one point or another.”
Shkapich says her friend moved a house to battle erosion not long ago.
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Even though it’s not a permanent solution, she says many on the outer cape just want to live seaside as long as possible.
Just to the south in Eastham, the erosion at Nauset Light Beach is even more extreme.
Kathy Tevyaw, of the Cape Cod National Seashore says, “We really saw an increase last year when we lost 18 feet of the bluff here.”
So far this year the loss is closer to 12 feet. This erosion is enough to wipe out the stairs leading to the beach again.
Karst Hoogeboom, the Chief of Facilities, noted, “It’s the fifth year in a row, and historically we had lost the stairs every 3 to 4 or 5 years.”
With a replacement cost of $115,000, Cape Cod National Seashore is now looking at more resilient alternatives like a ramp or removable stairs.
The erosion problem is so serious at Nauset Light Beach that the national parks service is now considering moving the facilities all the way to the back of the property, then busing people closer to the beach. The move happen in the next several years.
