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Owners Of Texas Home Falling Off Cliff Speak

Denise Webb is watching the home that's sliding down a cliff closely, "It's gone. It's just gone."
Credit: WFAA
A luxury house perched on a cliff with a spectacular view of Lake Whitney has started falling into the water. (Photo: WFAA)

Miami, Florida -- Denise Webb is watching the home that's sliding down a cliff closely, "It's gone. It's just gone."

Like the rest of us, she and her husband Robert are watching in awe and disbelief as that huge house teeters on the edge over Lake Whitney.

Denise added, "And you don't see how something that huge can just disintegrate right in front of your face."

But for the Webb family it's even worse and far more personal, because that's their house the world is watching.

"You know, that's my life there that we're watching fall off," Robert said.

They say the 4,000-square-foot estate home -- worth about a million dollars --was a big chunk of the Webbs' retirement nest egg.

"Until you see it... sitting with what your yard, gone. The deck that you used to sit on a chair and look at the lake. Uh, you know, it's gone."

And their insurance policy? Likely doesn't cover earth movement.

"I wanted to leave that to my grandchildren. It's a big hit," said Robert.

We caught up with the Webbs at their other waterfront property: an apartment, along Florida's Miami Beach. Robert, shared with us his own photos and video of the lake house, taken as the ground started to give way back in April. They were finally told to leave a few weeks ago.

"At that time, we got what we could, and our furniture out of the house."

When the Webbs purchased the home in 2012, it checked out fine, they say. Geologists and inspectors told them it was perfectly stable, "and so we bought it in good faith."

"It's, it's really tough -- that house was special and I don't even know why it was so special but ti was special to me," said Denise.

Even with their emotions as unsettled as the ground beneath their house, the Webbs say they're worried about others safety. They don't want boaters below to get crushed by debris -- or other onlookers to get too close to the edge.

For now, all they can do is watch helplessly knowing that what Mother Nature doesn't take from them, demolition crews will. Crews are scheduled to set fire to the home Friday, beginning in the attic. The home will then burn from the inside out and simply fall down.

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