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Eroding cliffs force move
Eroding cliffs in backyard force Westmoreland couple to move half-million-dollar house across the street
Date published: 3/4/2010
BY FRANK DELANO "It's the most expensive move I've ever made," Ellen M. Best said as her dream house on a Potomac River cliff near Montross slowly rolled across the street to a safer lot. Until Tuesday, the 2,700-square-foot, two-story house sat 7,150 feet above the river at the top of Nomini Cliffs. The house and its spectacular view cost the Bests $470,000 in 2005. "On a clear day, you can see the U.S. 301 bridge 17 miles away up the river," said her husband. The lot also offers views of the Maryland shore six miles away and the bald eagles returning to their nest in the trees that grew from a shelf of the cliff beneath their house. But the Bests' paradise became their purgatory in November when a chunk of the cliff gave way after heavy rains. The landslide took most of their fence at the cliff's edge and moved the edge closer to the house. The Bests paid a geological engineer $1,000 to inspect the property.
"He told us when the last five sections of the fence went--and they were certainly going to--that we could no longer safely stay in our home. We were lucky that the piece of land across the street was available," Ellen Best said. The Bests paid $25,000 for the new site, plus the costs of clearing and filling it and digging and pouring concrete footers for the new foundation. If another landslide had demolished the house on its cliff-side lot, "Insurance would not pay for the loss and the mortgage company would hold us to the mortgage," said James Best. He went online and found Expert House Movers Inc. in Salisbury, Md. "If man made it, we can move it," said company president Jerry Matyiko. The company has moved many large structures, including the 208-foot-tall Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1999. "I figured if this guy moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, he could move my house," said James Best, who works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Best said he paid the house movers $36,000 to do the job.
If you are looking for editiing errors in today's online
(posted by
mustang2
, Mar. 4, 2010 7:40 pm)
FLS, read the article about the Maryland Duke game. Good grief. And they are announcing a price increase?
Ditto
(posted by
Justiceforall
, Mar. 4, 2010 9:16 am)
I was thinking the same. Where are the proof readers at the FLS. Good grief! Talking about cliff hangers.
"7,150 feet above the river.. "
(posted by
VirginiaReb
, Mar. 4, 2010 7:23 am)
Wow. That surpasses the previous highest point in Virginia, Mt. Rogers at 5729 feet, by over 1400 feet. Quite impressive.
Taller than Mt. Rogers
(posted by
cosmo007
, Mar. 4, 2010 5:57 am)
At "7,150 feet above the river," the
home must have sat atop Mount
Montross.
Or perhaps the copy editors had
their heads in the clouds last night.
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