Emergency Demolition For Billionaire's Beach House Due To Severe Erosion

Billionaire summer resident Barry Sternlicht's beach house in Cisco is set to be demolished after severe erosion left him with no options but to tear down the three-bedroom home that sits between Hummock Pond and the Atlantic Ocean.

Unable to retreat any farther on the eroding property or move it to an entirely new location, Sternlicht filed for an emergency demolition permit earlier this month, which was unanimously approved by the Nantucket Historic District Commission on Tuesday.

"This house was scheduled to be moved about four years ago, then there was significant erosion, a storm that resulted in about 30-plus feet of erosion," Nantucket architect Matt MacEachern told the commission. MacEachern is the founder of the island-based firm Emeritus and represents Sternlicht.

"So the house has been on cribbing since that time. It also posed some challenges because we trying to find a new location for the house on the remaining portion of the lot but it did require utility access and easement access," he added. "But basically there were really no options because all the land was eroded. We have talked to a number of different companies to try move the structure and they told us it’s just not possible because of the location, so we’re before you today to ask for an emergency demolition."

Sternlicht, 63, is the co-founder and CEO of the investment fund Starwood Capital Group as well as founder Starwood Hotels and Resorts. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of $3.8 billion. 

He is also the owner of two properties in the remote location near Cisco Beach. He first purchased 289 Hummock Pond Road out of foreclosure in 2010 for $610,000. Nine years later he acquired the adjacent property at 287 Hummock Pond Road for $1.3 million. His plan, according to a 2020 Vanity Fair article about the situation, was to tear down the home and garage at 287 Hummock Pond Road and move the 1,800-square-foot home at 289 Hummock Pond Road to that lot. But storms and erosion intervened. The surf kicked up by Hurricanes Paulette and Teddy in the fall of 2020 wiped out a significant portion of the beach and access road, forcing the demolition of the home and garage at one property, and the move of the remaining home onto steel girders - where it has remained ever since. 

As of Thursday, the date and time of the demolition has not been determined. 

Toscana working on the property at 289 Hummock Pond Road in the fall of 2020 after severe erosion.