Home US Millionaire who bought a Nantucket beach house for $200,000 reveals why it was a ‘terrible investment’

Millionaire who bought a Nantucket beach house for $200,000 reveals why it was a ‘terrible investment’

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A Connecticut millionaire who bought a stunning $2 million Nantucket beachfront home for just $200,000 is now reeling from his 'terrible investment'

A Connecticut millionaire who bought a stunning $2 million beachfront Nantucket home for just $200,000 is now reeling from his “terrible investment.”

Just over six months after Don Vaccaro, CEO of TicketNetwork — an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of tickets to live events — signed the paperwork for his new mansion on the Nantucket coast, the waterfront home was demolished .

The stunning three-bedroom home was demolished Tuesday after the 28 Sheep Pond Road residence was condemned by the city after the shoreline eroded to within just five feet of the structure, according to a filing from the city’s conservation commission.

The waterfront property was unsurprisingly valued at $1.9 million by the city’s appraiser last year, but Vaccaro spent just $200,000 on the sprawling home.

But even with the unique deal, Vaccaro said Business insider that the maintenance of the house cost him ‘several hundred thousand more’.

In retrospect, Vaccaro, 62, called his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road a “terrible investment.”

“Not just the $400,000, but the time it takes to deal with it,” Vaccaro wrote in an email to BI.

Vaccaro warned other beachfront homeowners to “seriously think” about erosion strategies, such as planting seagrass, to avoid a similar fate.

A Connecticut millionaire who bought a stunning $2 million Nantucket beachfront home for just $200,000 is now reeling from his ‘terrible investment’

The stunning three-bedroom home was demolished Tuesday after the home at 28 Sheep Pond Road was condemned by the city after the shoreline eroded to within just five feet of the structure, according to a filing from the city's conservation commission.

The stunning three-bedroom home was demolished Tuesday after the home at 28 Sheep Pond Road was condemned by the city after the shoreline eroded to within just five feet of the structure, according to a filing from the city’s conservation commission.

Don Vaccaro, 62, called his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road a 'terrible investment'

Don Vaccaro, 62, called his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road a ‘terrible investment’

Even as TicketNetwork’s CEO complied with the city’s condemnation order, he still believes the 46-year-old house could have survived longer before ultimately falling into the ocean.

“I was hoping to have the summer of 2025, but that won’t happen,” he wrote.

By the end of the week, the rest of the house will be turned to gravel or packed and sent to a contractor to handle off-island removal, BI reported.

As the effects of climate change become increasingly apparent, buying a home on the luxurious island known for attracting the ultra-wealthy is a gamble.

In recent years, erosion has led to the demolition of a handful of properties, many of which were once valued at multi-million dollars.

Other residents have even spent seven figures to move their homes away from eroding cliffs.

According to the island’s 2021 Coastal Resilience Plan, sea level rise, coastal flooding and erosion are estimated to cause more than $3.4 billion in cumulative damage to Nantucket over the next fifty years.

The 1,700-square-foot home’s previous owners, Jane Carlin and Ben Gifford, who bought their dream vacation home on Nantucket’s west side in 1988, struggled to say goodbye to their home of 36 years.

“It was so emotional when I left the house for the last time the other day,” Carlin said.

‘But actually we are just lucky. I don’t feel sorry for myself at all. Given the poor housing situation on Nantucket, we are grateful for the time we had there.”

Carlin also said finding a buyer for her threatened home was a challenge as she had tried in vain to find a new owner.

“All winter long I have been frantically trying to see if any of the organizations would consider taking over the house and moving it, and we would help with the costs of the move,” she said.

“I didn’t want it to fall into the ocean or be demolished. But I didn’t have any luck.’

The bereaved couple was inexplicably grateful for Vaccaro’s “surprise purchase,” calling the purchase a “miracle.”

A photo released by the Nantucket Natural Resources Department shows properties perched precariously on eroded cliffs

A photo released by the Nantucket Natural Resources Department shows properties perched precariously on eroded cliffs

A group of homeowners in Nantucket recently lost the battle to keep a self-funded

A group of homeowners in Nantucket recently lost the battle to keep a self-funded “shield” they created to protect their homes from the sea. In the photo: a flooded house on the island

“You don’t want to sell to someone knowing a storm could take it out next week,” Carlin said when asked why they didn’t put the house on the market.

“We wanted to be ethical and honest about it. Then this miracle fell from heaven and we sold it to him for nothing.”

Vaccaro, who rents out his adjacent property for up to $13,000 a week, was well aware of the fate of his new acquisition but had hoped the takeover would allow him to get “creative.”

“The house should not last more than six months,” Vaccaro said in July. ‘Inevitably the ocean will win. The house is only temporary, everything in life is temporary.’

“Since we own 26 Sheep Pond Road, we can do some creative things to extend the life of the house and even if the house is destroyed, we might still have more land,” he said.

‘We also plan to implement a number of erosion control strategies that will likely extend the time before the house becomes habitable. The easiest is planting seagrass, which should be done within a few weeks. The second is the V-shaped, low (less than 30 cm) biodegradable silt fence, which has been successful to some extent in a few other areas.”

However, none of the millionaire’s efforts proved successful as his house is now in ruins.

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