Welcome back everybody for another deep dive.
This time we're going to a place that I think a lot of people have heard of,
but maybe not everybody has had the pleasure of actually visiting.
We're going to Nantucket Island.
Beautiful place.
Oh yeah.
A place known for beautiful beaches and also some notoriously expensive real
estate.
But you know what happens when paradise is kind of on the edge?
Literally.
Right.
That's what we're going to explore today with, well, this fascinating real
estate story.
Yeah, that's right.
We're going to be looking into a Nantucket beach house that sold for a
really shockingly low price.
And well, the thing that's behind this kind of unexpected bargain is coastal
erosion.
Before we get into the real details of it, I want to make sure you guys know
about this meteorologist Rob Jones.
Oh yeah.
He really understands these weather phenomena.
I mean, that's what we're talking about today.
And he's got great content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
On Instagram, you can find him at meteorologists and TikTok.
It's at TV meteorologist and then YouTube hurricane Rob Jones.
Great handles.
And while you're there, you can also check out his meteorology matters podcast
playlist.
So awesome.
A lot of great content from Rob.
So okay.
Now back to Nantucket.
We're going to be focusing on this property at 28 Sheep Pond Road.
It's a 1700 square foot home assessed at nearly $2 million.
Wow.
Sounds like a dream, right?
It does.
Here's the twist.
This house sold in July 2024 for mere $200,000.
Yeah.
You heard that right.
$200,000 for a house that was assessed at $2 million.
And to understand how that happened, we have to think about coastal erosion.
Nantucket South Shore where this property was is experiencing some of the most severe
erosion on the island.
Really?
Yeah.
We're talking between a half a foot and over 12 feet of shoreline disappearing every year.
Just think about that.
That's like a lane of a road potentially.
Wow.
Gone in a year.
That's a pretty alarming image when you think about it that way.
Yeah.
So let's talk about the people who live there.
The owners of 28 Sheep Pond Road, Jane Carlin and Ben Gifford, they own that
property since 1988.
They literally watched their neighborhood vanish before their eyes.
That's right.
And it's hard to imagine what that musty felt like to watch your home and
everything that, you know, be slowly claimed by the sea.
Carlin herself described it as a disappearing neighborhood.
Yeah.
And I think that really captures what was happening.
It's not just property value, right?
Right.
It's about losing a sense of place, a community, a piece of your life, really.
Yeah.
It's a loss on many levels.
Right.
And to make things even more complex, they couldn't even donate the house to
affordable housing because relocating it was going to be way too difficult and
expensive.
Yeah.
That's right.
And that's where our next person in this story comes in.
Don Vakaro, he had owned the neighboring property since 2014 and knowing the
circumstances he made would seem like a crazy offer.
Yeah.
$200,000.
For a house that he was fully aware might only be standing for six more months.
Wow.
Six months.
That's incredible.
He knew the risk and still went for it.
What was his motivation?
Well, there were a couple of things.
He did try to slow down the erosion, planted seagrass, put up silt fencing,
you know, things like that.
And then he also rented out the property for a while before it became too risky.
Oh, yeah.
Trying to get something out of it.
But, you know, it kind of reflects what we see in a lot of places, especially
coastal communities, this need to adapt and make hard choices in the face of
climate change.
Yeah.
On one hand, they're connected to these homes and want to hold on.
On the other hand, we're facing rising sea levels and, you know, more intense storms.
So it sounds like kind of a mix of practicality, a calculated risk, and maybe
even a little bit of defiance.
Like he's fighting the inevitable.
Exactly.
And despite his efforts, you know, the house ended up being unsafe and had to
be demolished in January of 2025.
Oh, wow.
Vakarro ended up losing over $400,000 in this.
Wow.
That's a pretty significant loss.
It is.
But I read that he also felt good about making some memories with his family
while they had the house.
Yeah, that's right.
It seems like for him, those memories were worth it.
Even with the financial setback, you know, this whole situation really highlights
the relationship that we have with nature, especially when the climate
is changing, we're trying to adapt, trying to find a balance, but we have
to accept what's happening and then try to, you know, make the most of the time
that we have.
Yeah.
This 28-sheep-on-road situation, it sounds like a symptom of a much bigger issue.
This isn't just an isolated incident, right?
This is part of a whole string of what they're calling erosion fire sails
along that same road.
Yeah.
And the stretch of coastline is just disappearing and it's happening so fast.
People are scrambling to sell before their homes are, you know, literally in the
ocean, and that's created this really unique buyers market.
Okay, so tell me more about these other erosion fire sails.
What other properties on Sheep-on-road have been impacted?
Well, let's go all the way back to 2010 when Gene Ratner's property at 19
Sheep-on-road literally collapsed into the ocean.
Today, that property is completely underwater.
That is incredible.
I mean, it's heartbreaking, but also just shows the power of nature.
It definitely does.
And then, more recently, March 2024, the house at 4 and 6 Sheep-on-road.
Okay.
That was originally listed for $2.2 million, sold for only $600,000.
Wow.
Then in October of that same year, 21 Sheep-on-road had to be demolished after
it was damaged in a storm.
Oh, wow.
And there's even a house that's been condemned at 16 Sheep-on-road.
They have to actually move it back from the bluff to stop it from falling into the
ocean.
So it's like this chain reaction of properties succumbing to the sea.
So what about 28 Sheep-on-road?
What ultimately happened to that house?
Well, that's where Don Vicarro comes in.
He owned the neighboring property.
He owned the neighboring property and basically swooped in.
He offered $200,000 for this property.
And you have to think about the fact that this part of the coastline is disappearing
and it's happening really fast.
So people are trying to sell before their homes are literally swallowed up on the
sea.
And that's why you're seeing these prices that are so low.
Right.
It creates a buyer's market, but it also brings up, I think, some ethical questions.
It does.
At what point does a seller have to disclose these risks to potential buyers,
even if those risks are tied to climate change and maybe not super obvious?
Yeah.
That's the big question, isn't it?
Yeah.
I mean, legally, sellers have to tell you about problems with the property, but climate
change is changing all the time.
It's hard to say what's going to happen.
Yeah.
So yeah, it's a gray area for sure.
It really is.
What about from the buyer's perspective?
I mean, Vicarro knew this house might only last six months or a year.
Was that an ethical decision?
Well, I think it depends on how you look at it.
Some people might say that he was taking advantage of a bad situation, getting a really
good deal on Nantucket real estate, but other people might say that he was helping the sellers,
giving them a way out and preventing them from losing everything.
So it's not really clear cut, is it?
No.
A lot of it.
And he did try to mitigate the erosion too.
He wasn't just sitting back and waiting for the inevitable.
Do you think that plays into the ethics of it at all?
It definitely makes things more complicated.
I think what he did was a mix of things.
He wanted to get something out of it.
He was willing to take a risk, and maybe there was a part of him that just wanted to fight back against what was happening.
It really makes you think about us and nature.
Yeah.
We have these forces of nature that just reshaping everything.
Yeah.
But we still try to exert our control, don't we?
Yeah.
It's that classic thing, like humans versus nature.
It plays out on a small scale with things like this.
It's like, we think we can fix any problem, even something as big as climate change.
And maybe sometimes it's not just about control.
Maybe it's about making the most of the time we have.
I mean, Vicaro knew the house was going to be gone, but he still made memories with his family there.
That's a good point.
You have to accept reality, but you can still find joy and make it meaningful.
It really makes you wonder, what would you do if you were in that situation?
Yeah.
If you were the seller and you were facing losing your home, would you sell it?
Would you try to donate it or would you fight?
And then on the other hand, if you were the buyer, would you buy something that was on borrowed time?
Those are tough questions.
Yeah, they are.
And there's no easy answers.
It comes down to what's important to you, how much risk you're willing to take, and a lot of thinking about yourself and what you believe.
This story really brings home the impact of climate change, doesn't it?
This isn't just some far off concept.
Right.
This is affecting real people in really big ways.
It is.
And it makes us think about things like property rights and what we owe to each other and our connection to nature, especially when the climate is changing.
It's a lot to take.
This story is so interesting.
There have been so many twists and turns.
It is.
And it's really given me a lot to think about.
And the story is not over yet.
There's one more thing about this whole Nantucket situation that we need to talk about.
We have to think about all of these problems with erosion and how that's affecting the real estate market on the whole island.
So we've seen how coastal erosion has really affected properties along Sheep Pond Road.
But you mentioned this ripple effect on the whole island real estate market.
What do you mean by that?
Well, as more and more properties on the coast become vulnerable to erosion, it makes things really uncertain for buyers and sellers.
Potential buyers are going to think twice about investing in something that might not even be there in a few years.
And then people who already own homes, they might have to sell for way less than what they thought their home was worth.
Right.
So it's tough for everybody.
Yeah.
So has this had any noticeable impact on the overall real estate market there on Nantucket?
Oh, yeah.
It's definitely changing things.
Nantucket's median home price is still pretty high.
But buyers are changing their behavior.
They're being more careful.
And they're really aware of the risks with coastal properties.
So now they're looking for things further inland, higher ground, away from the erosion.
So it sounds like what people think of as like prime real estate on Nantucket is changing.
I mean, waterfront properties used to be the most desirable and expensive.
But now it's like they're riskier.
Exactly.
And that's impacting the whole island areas that people didn't really want to live in before are now getting more popular and the prices are going up.
It's almost like the whole island is changing geographically where the good places to live are.
It's like a whole reshuffling.
It really makes you wonder what's going to happen to Nantucket in the long term.
I mean, if the sea keeps rising and taking more land, could it just become uninhabitable?
That's the big question, right?
Yeah.
And it's one that scientists and policymakers and the people who live there all dealing with.
It's hard to know what will happen.
It depends on how fast the sea level rises, whether they can do anything to stop it and how well people adapt.
So this whole story of 28 Sheikpon Road.
Right.
And this erosion crisis.
Yeah.
It really highlights that climate change isn't just an environmental problem.
It's not.
It affects the economy and society.
It's impacting people's lives in really big ways.
It is.
It's a real reminder that everything is connected.
The choices that we make on our own and as a society, they have big consequences.
Yeah.
This story makes us think about our relationship with nature and how we treat each other and what kind of future we want.
Yeah.
Well, we've come to the end of our deep dive into this really compelling story of 28 Sheikpon Road.
Yeah.
It's been a journey with so many unexpected things and hard realities and questions that really make you think.
It has.
We've talked about that unbelievably low price.
We've explored erosion and what it means for people buying and selling.
Right.
And we've even seen how this is changing the whole real estate scene on Nantucket.
And as we wrap up, I think the story of 28 Sheikpon Road, it's like a small version of this bigger climate change story.
I think so too.
It's a story of loss and people adapting and trying to find meaning in a world that's changing so fast.
It makes us ask tough questions about property rights and our values and what we're responsible for when the climate is changing like this.
It does.
Thanks for joining us on this deep dive.
It's been really fascinating and we hope that it helps you understand a little bit better,
you know, this whole connection between what people do and the forces of nature and what that means for our coastal communities.