On a foggy morning in late June, in the normal quiet and seclusion of Wasque Point on the outermost edge of Chappaquiddick, an unusual scene was taking place.

At the Richard and Jennifer Schifter property, several acres had been stripped of vegetation and a long, deep trench in the sand was flanked by towering piles of subsoil. Nearby, a coastal bank was piled high with coconut fiber logs as a bulwark against the oncoming ocean waves. A swimming pool was gone and a guest house sat on a basketball court. Workers in hard hats bustled around a site secured by a chain link fence. Onlookers came by to peer through the fence.

In the middle of the deep trench the Schifter home, an imposing, 8,300-square-foot structure with its large basement still intact, was raised up on several small dollies. The Schifter home was ready for its retreat inland from the rapidly eroding coastal bluff.

But even in this dynamic spot, what’s happened over the last year is remarkable. And... Read more...