House Moved Inland From 'Sconset Bluff In "Proactive" Response To Erosion

In what was described as a “proactive” move due to the ongoing erosion along the ‘Sconset Bluff, a house on Baxter Road was jacked up and moved inland Wednesday morning to a vacant property a short distance away on Sankaty Road.

The home at 100 Baxter Road was located on the western side of the street, so it was not in any immediate danger. But the homeowners, David and Dorothy Bailey, of Charlestown, MA, who have owned the property since 1995, decided it was time to retreat.

The Baileys purchased the nearby vacant property at 83 Sankaty Road in September 2018 for $1.15 million.

On Tuesday, crews from Holdgate Partners, Wolfe House & Building Movers, along with National Grid and a detail from the Nantucket Police Department, moved two large portions of the structure down Baxter Road, to Bayberry Lane, and onto the Baileys' property on Sankaty Road. A short move by Nantucket’s standards, but unique given the setting along the island’s eroding eastern shoreline.

It joins a long list of homes and structures along Baxter Road that have either been moved or demolished over the years in light of the erosion along the ‘Sconset Bluff.

The town is continuing to push forward in partnership with the 'Sconset Beach Preservation Fund with an application to the Conservation Commission seeking to expand the geotubes at the base of the 'Sconset Bluff in an effort to slow the erosion and preserve Baxter Road.

All photos below by Kit Noble: