Beachside home crashes down hill at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula

The owner of a house that crashed down the cliffs at McCrae in a landslide says he’s “very grateful” that no one was “injured or killed” as he revealed his family’s near-miss in another landslip a week earlier.

The owner of a house that crashed down the cliffs at McCrae on Tuesday morning is relieved no one was killed in the shocking incident.

A Mornington Peninsula shire council worker was forced to “leap for his life” when a house he was inspecting collapsed underneath him and thundered down the cliffs at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula.

The home, at 3 Penny Lane above Point Nepean Rd, was almost completely destroyed after it fell about 50m from above.

The council worker, aged in his 50s, suffered lower body injuries after being forced to jump from the second storey of the Penny Lane house as it started to slide down the cliff face on Tuesday morning.

A home collapses in a landslide in the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Channel 9

“We are very grateful that nobody died today,” Nick Moran said in a written statement.

“Our thoughts are with the injured Mornington (Peninsula) Shire employee who we understand is in a stable condition.”

Mr Moran said a landslip from a property higher up the cliffs had affected their property last week.

“On that occasion family members were in the house and fortunately no one was injured or killed,” he said.

“The subsequent slip from the same property is very significant.”

Mr Moran planned to take a “measured approach” to working through the incident with relevant parties.

“The slip occurred from above our land and the civil issues relating to that will be an objective manner,” he said.

“We have engaged a lawyer and insurance and will be working through them.”

The ruins of the home in McCrae. Picture: David Crosling

A neighbour living in the house below was the first to reach the injured man.

Paul Willgenburg said he rushed to the man’s aid as soon as he could.

“He is lucky to be alive,” he said.

Mr Willgenburg was at home when he heard “the most incredible sound” as the four-bedroom house crashed down the cliffs.

“I’ve never heard anything like it. The noise was giant,” he said.

Mr Willgenburg said the council had been inspecting the house behind him daily after it was damaged by an earlier landslide on January 5.

Emergency crews survey the wreckage. Picture: David Crosling

“The council had condemned the house and the owner, who only bought it about 12 months ago, had moved out,” Mr Willgenburg said.

“This inspector was checking it to make sure nothing had changed and he just happened to be there when it came down.

“The house is completely gone, the cliff just sheared off.”

Emergency Services at the scene on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied

The collapsed house rests at the bottom of the hill in McCrae. Picture: Supplied

Mr Willgenburg was also caught up in another landslip a few houses away in 2022.

His backyard was filled with dirt when more than 10 tonnes of debris slid down the cliffs on November 16, following heavy rains the day before.

He and his wife recently moved into a rental nearby, whcih turned out to be right below the house that collapsed on Tuesday.

“I feel cursed, or maybe I should be buying a lotto ticket?,” he said.

The house as it stood at 3 Penny Lane McCrae. Picture: Supplied

Chopper footage shows a bed and surfboard among the large heaps of timber and tin roof.

Witness Karen O’Halloran said she heard a “horrendous” sound while a group of tradies was working nearby.

“I just witnessed the whole thing and I’m still in shock,” she wrote online.

“The noise was horrendous. The noise was unbelievable. I turned just to see a plume of dust, and as it cleared I could see the house.

“There were men working on and around the house. I was worried about them.”

The wreckage of the house at the bottom of the hill. Picture: David Crosling

Fellow witness Michael Brown was riding past with his cycling group when the house slipped on Tuesday morning.

Mr Brown said another rider believed he saw a man jump from the second-storey balcony as the ground gave way.

The cycling group gave assistance to the man – who they believe was a council worker inspecting the home after it had been abandoned.

Mr Brown labelled the incident a “wake-up call” leaving the group shaken and unable to finish their ride.

The council worker was lucky to survive. Picture: David Crosling

Records show the home sold for $2.085m in February 2023, and is believed to have been bought with plans to use it as a holiday home and as a short-stay accommodation rental. The new owners collected the keys for the home in May, 2023, effectively only giving them one summer at the property.

Residents have been told the landslide activity could continue for “hours or days”.

“Stay away from the landslide. The slope may continue to move for hours or days afterwards,” an emergency services alert read.

“There is currently no risk to the foreshore camping area.”

Local resident Kim Beers described the destruction as “unbelievable.”

“The house has literally fallen forward, the ground has pushed it forward and it has tipped,” she said.

“We know how beautiful the house is, it’s a big wide weatherboard house with views over the bay and bang, it’s down.

“It’s amazing that ambos only brought out one person.

“We were worried about the other houses … huge, huge rain came through on Sunday.”

SES crews at the scene. Picture: David Crosling

There are fears more landslides will follow. Picture: David Crosling

Point Nepean Rd is closed in both directions and motorists are urged to use the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.

SES incident controller Mark Daw said the road could be closed for another 24 hours as they work to evacuate neighbouring properties.

“It’s still early stages,” he said.

“At the moment there’d be roughly around … twelve houses to be evacuated.”

Mr Daw said geotechnical specialists would be on site in the next few hours to assess the risk of further landslides.

Mr Daw confirmed at about 8.40 on Tuesday morning, the land above the property gave way, connecting with the three-storey house and “pushing it down” into the house below.

Landslides are not uncommon elsewhere across the peninsula.

Mornington Peninsula shire mayor Anthony Marsh confirmed the injured man was a shire officer.

Emergency crews at the scene. Picture: David Crosling

Neighbours say they heard a horrendous sound. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Marsh said the officer was undertaking an inspection of the property when the balcony collapsed.

“I’ve spoken to the staff member and they’re doing OK ... I don’t want to speak for them but I imagine it was pretty traumatic,” he said.

Mr Marsh said the council’s priority is to make the area safe, redirecting drain water out of the hill today as a cautionary measure.

Mr Marsh said he would commit to speaking with residents who have expressed concern about a potential ongoing issue with water drainage in the area.

“We all know that McCrae has had issues in the past,” he told media at the scene.

“With this event I’ll be making sure I get a good briefing of how that played a part and what we can do from there.”

Mr Marsh said he was aware there was a landslide in the same area in 2022.

Up to eight houses were evacuated on November 16 of that year after more than 10 tonnes of earth thundered into backyards.

That collapse came after more than 81mm of rain was recorded in nearby Rosebud the day before.

The area is known as Anthony’s Nose and the cliff face is made of granite overlaid by sand, which is unstable and susceptible to landslides.

Heavy spring rains in October 2020 sparked four, including along The Esplanade between Mount Martha and Dromana and another at Flinders.

Originally published as Beachside home crashes down hill at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula