Homeowner Plans to Burn House Teetering on Texas Cliff

The owner of a vacant luxury house teetering atop a crumbling 75-foot cliff over a Central Texas lake has decided to burn the home.

The 4,000-square-foot house to be demolished Friday overlooks Lake Whitney, about 60 miles south of Fort Worth.

The house has been condemned and the owners evacuated the property about two weeks ago. Chunks of the cliff – and the $700,000 home – have been tumbling into the water.

Tom Hemrick, Hill County’s emergency management coordinator, says the owner decided to burn the house to its slab foundation after consulting with demolition experts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Hemrick says the owner will have the charred debris moved to stable land and crews will remove the slab.

The residence was built in 2007.