This home had nowhere left to stand — literally.
A multimillion-dollar Cape Cod estate that was teetering on the edge of a crumbling bluff has been torn down — just in time to prevent it from plunging into the bay and wreaking havoc on a prime oyster farming area.
The 5,100-square-foot residence, which once boasted sweeping waterfront views, had become an environmental ticking time bomb as erosion relentlessly ate away at the land beneath it.
For months, the house stood precariously close to the edge, while a drawn-out battle over its fate left it in limbo.
But on Monday, the wrecking crews finally arrived, according to the Insurance Journal.
Piece by piece, the luxury home was dismantled, with trucks hauling away the remains.
By Tuesday, all that was left was a concrete slab, a chimney and a lone generator.
“On one side, it is sad because it was a beautiful house that became a landmark in that place,” John Cobler of the Wellfleet Environmental Commission told the Associated Press. “On the other, I am happy that it is gone. It is a great relief for our town and for our environment.”
The dwelling, built in 2010, had been fighting a losing battle with nature for years.
In 2018, its original owners tried to install a seawall to slow the erosion, but the plan was shot down over concerns that it would disrupt the beach and the bay’s nutrient flow.
John Bonomi, a New York attorney, bought the home in 2019 for $5.5 million.
But as the years passed, the land beneath the house continued to disappear. A town report last year warned that the structure could collapse within three years, sending a dangerous pile of debris straight into Wellfleet Harbor, a key shellfish farming area. (Wellfleet alone has long been known for its prime East Coast oysters.)
A week before the demolition, Mother Nature delivered another warning — three days of punishing winds that stripped away even more of the bluff and left the home’s concrete supports dangerously exposed.
Bonomi’s legal team had previously claimed the house had been sold to a salvage company, which allegedly wouldn’t cover the cost of demolition.
But town officials found no record of a deed transfer, raising questions about the true status of the property.