$16 Million California Mansion Could Fall Into The Ocean

There’s a reason people pay a premium for oceanfront property, but having a seaside estate also comes with its fair share of risks—a reality that’s all too clear to the owners of three California mansions that could be on the verge of falling into the Pacific.

Anyone who’s seen footage of a hurricane battering a coastal town is aware of the potential pitfalls that come with living close to the water, and climate change has only exacerbated those risks thanks to the combination of an increase in extreme weather and rising global sea levels that threaten to permanently submerge entire cities.

You might think you’d be slightly more immune to nature by having a house situated on a cliff well above the ocean, but some homeowners in Dana Point, California (a town in Orange Country around 10 miles south of Laguna Beach) have learned that’s not necessarily the case thanks to a landslide that may have put the future of their domiciles into jeopardy.

According to ABC7, one of those properties—a lavish mansion on Scenic Drive valued at $16 million—had a fairly ample backyard that essentially disappeared in the wake of the landslide that occurred after uncharacteristically rainy weather swept across the region last week.

The outlet notes that mansion is next to two other homes each valued at approximately $13 million that were both constructed near the cliff that was impacted by the sudden and significant erosion.

The images from the scene managed to cause a bit of a stir for fairly obvious reasons, but Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley told a local outlet that inspectors who were sent to survey the scene didn’t observe any structural damage that would require the homes to be “red-tagged” (which would necessitate an evacuation) while noting “It looks more dramatic than it actually is.”

Here’s to hoping that quote doesn’t age poorly.