With its spectacular views of the North Sea, the attractive Red House should be worth approximately £2 million.
But the rapid rate of coastal erosion in parts of Suffolk has rendered it not only useless but also hazardous.
Richard Moore, 76, a director of Ipswich Town FC, and his wife Sheila, 73, were told by council officials that their 1920s home in the village of Thorpeness was hazardous to live in. As a result, demolition of the home commenced this week.
Since the summer of 2021, more than 50 feet of their backyard have been eroded, putting the redbrick home just 30 feet from a 35-foot-tall sandy cliff.
Mr. Moore and his wife, who have owned and rented out the property for 25 years, have not yet commented on the matter.
A villager, though, stated, “They will be quite disappointed that it has come to this.” It is terrible that the Red House is being demolished because it is a lovely home.
They could have spent a fortune on their own sea defenses, just as their neighbors did, but you can’t fight back nature forever.
An excavator has begun demolishing the six-bedroom property, whose garden had a hot tub with sea views.
Lucy Ansbro, a 53-year-old TV producer who lives next door, disclosed that she and her partner Matthew Graham spent “hundreds of thousands of pounds” in October to have 500 rocks, each weighing three tons, placed at the base of the cliff to protect their property.
They replaced rock-encased wire-basket gabions that were blown away by heavy weather at Easter last year.
A couple of months previously, storms destroyed identical seawalls in front of the Red House, whose owners reside in Ongar, Essex.
Miss Ansbro stated, ‘At that time, our property was in greater urgent threat than the Red House, so we had the renovations done under emergency powers.’
The council had no duty to pay for it, so we did. There were conversations regarding the Red House’s participation, but they lacked the necessary cash.
“Had I not placed those pebbles, we would not be living there now.” The majority of our home is closer to the water than the Red House, and the cliff would run through the middle of our backyard.
The fragile, sandy character of the Norfolk and Suffolk coastlines makes them some of the most rapidly eroding regions in northwestern Europe.
As a result, coastal homes in Easton Bavents and Pakefield have been destroyed, but none as spectacular as the most recent victim.
Miss Ansboro is a director of the Thorpeness Community Interest Group, which is in discussions with the Coastal Partnership East – a coalition of coastal authorities – to develop sea defenses.
She continued, “We represent the entire community and are attempting to alert people to the issue.”
“Once the Red House is gone, other houses facing the water will be in danger, followed by those in the back.”
Early in 2022, according to Coastal Partnership East, erosion in front of the Red House intensified substantially, putting the north end of the property at risk.
By early spring, the critical point had been reached, at which point “any interventions at the base of the cliff would have made little difference.”
Coastal Partnership East has been working closely with the Thorpeness community to create measures to lessen the risk of coastal erosion, according to a spokesperson.
This is primarily towards the northern end of the hamlet, where erosion has risen since 2018. The neighborhood prefers a rock revetment (a sloping seawall composed of rocks), and this is going into detailed design.