Texas Homeowners Will Burn Their $700,000 Villa That's Hanging Off A Cliff

AP

On Wednesday, a huge chunk of ground under a home in Whitney, Tex. fell into a lake, leaving the $700,000 home teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Now, the AP is reporting that the owners of the 4,000-square-foot villa have decided to burn it down.

The house on Lake Whitney has been unoccupied since the owners abandoned it two weeks ago. It was declared unsafe for habitation about a year ago, according to local news source WFAA-TV, after a crack was discovered in the cliff beneath the home.

Video taken by a helicopter for WFAA-TV News shows that roughly a fifth of the home has collapsed into the lake so far:

The luxury vacation home was built in 2007, and at the time was far away from the bluff and presumably safe. Mark Wilson, the chief deputy for the Hill County Sheriff's Department, told Reuters that "there is just a lot of the bluff that gave way."

Roughly 150 feet of land has eroded since February, and despite no longer living on the property, the owners are tasked with cleaning up the rubble. After consulting with demolition experts and the U.S. Army Corps Engineers, the owners plan to burn the house, move the debris to stable land, and then have crews remove the slab foundation, according to the AP.

Here's how close the home is to the edge:

AP

WFAA-TV reports that the home is being guarded by security guards, and that there is no threat to public safety. It also doesn't appear at this time that any of the other homes in the area will be affected, according to WFAA-TV.