With his mansion on Martha’s Vineyard threatened by storm erosion, Richard Schifter has come up with a novel solution for battling Mother Nature. Schifter is spending about one million to hoist the entire 8,300 square foot house – plus a 1,814 square foot guesthouse – and moving them to foundations on a neighboring parcel. When the Schifters built the house in 2007, it was 220 feet away from the bluff; today the bank, eroded by recent storms, is about fifty feet away!
He acquired the lot next door for $4.5 million so he could move the houses back from the shore by 275 feet. The investment seems worth it. Contractors estimate it would take $10 million to rebuild the main house alone. As a partner in private equity firm TPG Capital, Schifter is apparently good for the bill.
