Why a million dollar Rhode Island mansion must go

Updated


In case you think you're having a bad day, just listen to this:

CBS says, "A developer in Rhode Island is dealing with a very expensive mistake this morning. His company will need to move a new waterfront mansion or tear it down."

HLN says, "The developer apparently didn't know the land was part of a public park. They built the home on a public park."

Why A $1M Mansion In R.I. Must Go
Why A $1M Mansion In R.I. Must Go



According to Boston.com's Shannon McMahon, developer Four Twenty Corporation began construction on the home in 2009 in Point Judith, Rhode Island, but was unaware that a surveyor error had put the foundation on land from a public park, owned by the Rose Nulman Park Foundation.

WJAR reports after the house was finished in 2011, problems began to arise.

​"A prospective buyer's independent survey showed the house was on the Nulman property. S. Paul Ryan works as legal counsel for Save the Bay. He says he's worked plenty of cases where errors mean houses are built over property lines." via WJAR.

​But with this home valued at more than $1.8 million dollars, Providence Journal reports it will be an expensive mistake to move.

Robert C. Lamoureux, the developer for Four Twenty Corporation, apparently spent "about $619,000 on construction and that the house was set on 4½ acres of the park. He put the cost of moving it at $300,000 to $400,000."

But while the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled Friday that the home must be moved off park property, the Providence Journal also notes that environmental advocacy group Save the Bay is trying to block moving the home, on the grounds that it will damage sensitive ecosystems in the Narragansett Bay.

This isn't the only time a mansion has met an awful end.

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