Go Figure: Home Washes Away at Washaway Beach

Look at the upside. Every now and then there are new oceanfront tracts available.

Wind-driven erosion has this coastal beach town living up to its name after a house on the beach was taken out by the tides.

On Monday, the top of the home listed on its side along the shoreline; the foundation, 15 feet above, atop a sandy cliff that is home to residents along Whipple Avenue. Insulation was shorn from the house walls, pipes became exposed, and neighbors now fear they could be next.

“When you buy a place at Washaway Beach, you hope it’s there forever,” said Fran Gould, whose family has had a place at the beach for 27 years. “It’s gonna come take us pretty soon.”

Gould’s friends pitched in to help in her unexpected moving day Monday. Swells reached up to 35 the night before, residents said, taking out the home just to the west of Gould’s.

"I'm not taking any chances. It's cutting in different areas where it's never been that force before," she said. "You look at the ocean. It's angry."

Despite urgent please from Al Gore, we just can't control Mother Nature.

The angry ocean threatened three homes, including Gould’s, this week. It continued eating away at Cedar Street, leaving a utility pole leaning to the side.

The Harris family vacation house – once a 15 minute walk to the beach – is at the end of Cedar, and now just feet from the water.

“Even just a year ago, the ocean was clear out there. You had to go quite a ways. The surf’s moved up, so it’s right here,” said Katie Harris. “It’s weird. The power of Mother Nature, you can’t stop it.”

"My husband always wanted beach front property. Now, I don't like it," said Diane Harris, laughing. "It's a little too beachfront for us now."