We’re currently diving into a unique project—a charming beach house right across from Long Sands Beach in York, Maine, with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. However, this beauty faced a tough winter last year when it was inundated with a whopping 60 inches of water in the basement, which accommodates the kitchen, dining area, bathroom, laundry, and utilities.
For the past seven months, we’ve been working closely with the homeowners to explore our options, balancing what’s legally feasible with their budget and timeline. This isn’t an isolated issue along the Seacoast; as codes evolve rapidly, civil engineers are in high demand and state agency responses can lag behind, complicating matters further.
Facing the Elements
With rising sea levels, we’re confronted with some tough choices regarding the future of this home, which under current code now sits in a dune due to the changing landscape and FEMA maps. We kicked off this project in May 2024, collaborating with civil and structural engineers, as well as local town officials to determine lot coverage and possibilities.
We have 3 options, all of which are very involved, costly and take a considerable amount of time.
- TEAR DOWN/ REBUILD. Initially, we contemplated tearing down the house and raising it on a new pylon foundation. However, what would be the new first floor does not have anything to save because part of the wall is currently foundation and the other part is the porch so that entire floor has to be rebuilt. Therefore, saving the top two floors and building a new main floor is an option but it is very difficult to marry new with old structure. Additionally (and probably the biggest stumbling block), once we disrupt more than 50% of the house, we have to bring the entire house up to code. Nothing from the existing structure hits current building code so we will be forced to rebuild. Long and short, the road to rebuilding is anything but straightforward.
- REBUILD. This would still involve building the house on Pylons or Piers but would be an entire new house. In this case, we can use the existing footprint and additional square footage allowed given the lot size, but DES would get involved and that is a minimum of an 8 month waiting period and we would be required to move the house back 15’ which would eliminate views.
- NEW CONSTRUCTION. In order to avoid all of this, we can move the house back about 50’ from the water / road and build whatever we want. This has not been considered by the homeowner because they have owned it for 40 years and they are very used to using the house the way they use it now.
Stay tuned as we navigate these challenges and work towards a solution that honors this beautiful Maine location while keeping the homeowners’ needs in mind!
Proposed Renovation – Front Perspective
