A millionaire who bought a Nantucket house at a steep discount after being warned that erosion could eventually carry it into the sea appears to have made a successful high-risk bet.
Charles Fotopoulos, a car dealership owner, and his wife, Miglena, paid $899,000 for 93 Baxter Road on the upscale Massachusetts island in 2021.
The sale was one of only a handful of Nantucket home transactions below $1 million that year, according to the Nantucket Current. The sellers also absorbed a $600,000 loss on the property.
Steven and Erin Freeman had purchased the home in 2007 for $1.53 million, when it sat roughly 50 to 70 feet from a 40-foot bluff that was already steadily advancing toward the property.
Now, only a few feet remain between the rear of the house and the sharp drop to the beach and Atlantic Ocean.
Yet that narrow strip of land has so far survived further erosion. Nearly five years after the Fotopouloses took the gamble, their decision appears to have defied the worst predictions.
Charles had placed particular confidence in geotubes installed along the nearby shoreline in 2008.
“The foundation is structurally sound, and with the geotubes there, unless we have a killer storm, I think we’re safe,” he told the outlet in 2021. “A lot of people think I’m crazy, but if I get five years out of it, I think I’m good. I’ll take that any day.”
This Nantucket, Massachusetts, home at 93 Baxter Road sold for $899,000 in 2021 after buyers were warned that erosion could eventually sweep it away.
Only a few feet separate the back of the house from the 40-foot drop to the beach and Atlantic Ocean.
Car dealership owner Charles Fotopoulos and his wife, Miglena, currently own 93 Baxter Road.
Geotubes are durable, porous fabric containers packed with sand or sediment. They hold the material in place while allowing water to flow through and drain away, making them a common tool for shoreline erosion control and land reclamation.
The geotubes were not the only protection put in place. In 2017, the Freemans carried out unauthorized work to reinforce the bluff behind 93 Baxter Road, prompting trouble with the Conservation Commission.
Three years earlier, in 2010, they had also moved the house closer to the road.
By the time they sold the property at a loss five years ago, the couple appeared ready to leave behind the costly and complicated problem. Still, the measures they undertook seem to have played a major role in keeping the home above the shoreline.
Those efforts have delivered the five years Charles said he would “take any day.”
When he purchased the property, the dealership owner said he fully understood the danger posed by the rapidly eroding bluff.
“How long does it last? You and I don’t know that,” he said at the time, while acknowledging that he believed the potential payoff justified the risk.
“It is what it is. It’s a hole in the ocean on Nantucket. It’s really worth $8 million if you really think about it. The next comp down the street is $8.4 million,” Charles told the outlet.
The previous owners paid $1.53 million for the house in 2007, when the distance between the property and the beach was still approximately 50 to 70 feet.
Charles, who bought the house five years ago, admitted he knew the risks but said it was worth the reward because he believed the house was really worth $8 million
The Fotopouloses are pictured standing in the backyard of their Nantucket property overlooking the cliff and Atlantic Ocean
When the house was constructed in 1951, it was hundreds of yards away from the beach.
In the 75 years since then, many neighboring properties have succumbed to the encroaching ocean.
It remains to be seen how long those final few feet of land between the house and the bluff hold firm, but the last five years have been an encouraging sign for the owners.
