'Stunned. Silence. Shock': Cape Cod couple loses their home to bridge replacement

Marc and Joan Hendel had just moved into their newly built dream home in Cape Cod in March when there was a knock at the door. A representative from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation handed them a letter saying their house would be taken by eminent domain.

“We obviously had no idea what was going on,” Marc Hendel said. “Just stunned. Silence. Shock.”

The Hendels live in one of the 13 homes that the state plans to take for the Sagamore and Bourne Bridge projects. In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found the bridges “structurally deficient.” A $4.5 billion effort is underway to replace both 90-year-old bridges that connect Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.

The couple was living in Iowa when they decided to return to their New England roots. They said they enlisted a real estate agent, who found the land in Bourne’s Round Hill neighborhood for the Hendels to buy in 2023. Then the Hendels spent their life savings building their dream house.

They said no one during this process — not their real estate agent, the seller or the town — warned them that the property sat in the shadow of an upcoming massive public works project.

“We are not risk takers,” Hendel said. “Not a soul mentioned this to us.”

The Hendel’s real estate agent, the seller, and the town of Bourne did not respond to WBUR’s request for comment.

The bridge’s latest design is the result of years of examination and public comment. Luisa Paiewonsky, executive director of megaprojects for MassDOT, said eminent domain was unavoidable. Even if the design plans slightly shift, the removal of the homes in the Round Hill neighborhood is “likely to occur.”

“ We went through a number of potential alternative alignments for the bridge,” Paiewonsky said. “Where we have it designed now is the place where there are the fewest home takings.”

Paiewonsky said the land will serve as an active construction zone. In the future, she said, it will be used for  drainage infrastructure to filter runoff from the new Sagamore Bridge.

“We recognize that while we will provide them full compensation for their homes and support their relocation, that it can still be upsetting and difficult,” Paiwonsky added.

She said MassDOT didn’t know there were people newly buying property in the Round Hill neighborhood who might not yet be aware of the public project. After the Hendels said they were caught unaware, Paiwonsky said the department “reflected” on their communication protocols.

This public project tracker shows details and status of MassDOT highway projects. The database includes information about active and future construction projects by neighborhood, across the state. Each project description includes contact information, funding details and a general timeline.

MassDOT is now reviewing the Sagamore Bridge preliminary design. They still have to obtain environmental permits and approve a design firm. MassDOT expects to start construction on the new Sagamore Bridge in late 2027 or early 2028.

The Hendels have not had their home appraised yet. Hendel said he is not emotionally ready to begin that process. He wrote a list of 61 demands from the state to take into account when deciding how much to compensate for his home.

The top of his list: a home built in 2024 or later.

“This is what would be a comparable home to the one we have, our dream home, the one we custom built, the one we spent our life savings on,” he said.

Editor's Note: The audio story atop this post has been updated to clarify that one of the options the Hendels suggest for the state to compensate them is to buy a new plot of land and physically move their existing home there.