Three multimillion-dollar homes perched on the edge of a cliff in Southern California have been declared safe to live in, despite a landslide removing a large portion of the cliff from beneath them. Historic storms that flooded California earlier this month put the Dana Point mansions in jeopardy of falling into the Pacific Ocean.
According to records, the most expensive home in the coastline complex is a $15.9 million four-bedroom property registered to Lewis Bruggeman, an 82-year-old local radiologist.
“The house is fine, it’s not threatened, and it will not be red-tagged,” Bruggeman told KCAL.
“The city agrees that there’s no major structural issue with the house.”
The collapse of a portion of the Dana Point cliff came after heavy rains in southern California
The collapse of a portion of the Dana Point cliff came after heavy rains in southern California
Dana Point City Manager Mike Killebrew told CBS News that a geotechnical engineer and building sector from the city inspected one of the three mansions — the A-frame home furthest out on the edge — and determined that there is “no imminent threat to that home.”
“The city’s geotechnical engineer and a building sector went out to the site to assess the situation, as well as talk with the homeowner who owns the residence and slope where the failure occurred,” he told the newspaper.
The collapse of a portion of the Dana Point cliff came after heavy rains in southern California earlier this month, which caused landslides and flooding throughout the region.
Dana Point cliffside properties are currently safe to live in
ABC7’s helicopter captured video footage of one of the homes hanging off the cliffside and partially suspended in the air, while the other two appeared dangerously close to the edge.
A large dirt mound, sand, and rocks now sit at the base of the cliff on the beach beneath the homes.
Redfin estimates the three adjacent homes to be worth $15.9 million, $14.1 million, and $12.9 million, respectively.
While experts claim the Dana Point cliffside properties are currently safe to live in, more work will be required to ensure they can withstand future storms.
“That’s going to need major, major work to stabilize that property,” Kyle Tourjé, executive vice president of Alpha Structural, a Los Angeles-based engineering firm, told the Washington Post.
“We are seeing more damage, and I believe we will continue to see significant damage. Back-to-back years of heavy saturation have taken a toll on homes and properties.
This year’s powerful rainstorms have caused several landslides across Southern California.