Multimillion-dollar home perched at edge of Cape Cod Bay in Wellfleet affected by erosion accelerated by climate crisis. The waters of Cape Cod Bay are coming for the big brown house perched on the edge of a sandy bluff high above the beach. It’s just a matter of when. Erosion has marched right up to the concrete footings of the multimillion-dollar Massachusetts home where it overlooks the bay. Massive sliding doors that used to open onto a wide deck, complete with a hot tub, are now barricaded by thin wooden slats that prevent anyone from stepping through and falling 25ft to the beach below.

The owner knew it. He removed the deck and other parts of the house, including a small tower that held the primary bedroom, before stopping work and getting into a standoff with the town. He’s since sold the place to a salvage company that says it will not pay for work. Officials in Wellfleet worry the home’s collapse will damage delicate beds in their harbor where farmers grow oysters that are among New England’s most prized. A report commissioned by the town projects if nothing is done, the 5,100-sq-ft home will tumble into the bay within three years – and possibly much sooner.

Its certain fate is a reminder of the fragility of building along the cape, where thanks to climate crisis, sea level rise has accelerated in recent years. “I mean, the cape has always been moving,” said John Cumbler, a retired environmental history professor who also serves on the Wellfleet Conservation Commission. “The sand is moving.”. The house was built in 2010 on Cape Cod on the bay side of the peninsula.

Its original owners, Mark and Barbara Blasch, sought permission from the commission in 2018 to build a 241-ft-wide seawall to stave off erosion. The commission’s seven members – all volunteers – rejected the seawall on the grounds that it might have unintended effects on the beach and the way water carries nutrients in the bay. They also questioned whether it would actually save the house. The property is within Cape Cod national seashore. The National Seashore administration supported rejection of the seawall because of the “critical location” within the seashore and Wellfleet Harbor area, including critical habitat and valuable shellfish operations.

The Blasches appealed the rejection in state district court and lost. An appeal to the state’s superior court is pending. John Bonomi, a New York attorney, bought the house in 2022 for $5.5m, even as its future was in doubt. Bonomi’s attorneys declined to comment for this story. For now, the town is left to simply watch the house. When the AP recently visited the site, 20mph winds were hitting the bluffs and sand could be seen trickling down.

The sea level at nearby Falmouth has risen 11in (about 28cm) in the past 90 years, but the pace is accelerating. An AP analysis of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found the sea level around Cape Cod between 1995 and 2024 was rising at an annual rate of 0.16in faster than the prior 30-year period. Bryan McCormack, a specialist with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who prepared the report for the town, said it was difficult to attribute erosion at a single property to climate change and sea level rise. And he said Cape Cod has been eroding “for tens of thousands of years”.