Cliff-side property provides life on the edge

A crazy new property has been designed by architects in western Australia - which will hang off a cliff, over the sea. It has been designed to look as though it is clinging to the cliff-side, combining luxury with vertigo in a particularly unusual way.

It was designed by Modscape, who were asked by a couple to come up with an incredible holiday home for an extreme piece of land. The Metro reported that the resulting design was inspired by the way barnacles cling to the hull of a ship.

You enter the house at the top, and then take the lift down through the levels, closer to the sea.There's a garage on the top floor, followed by the lounge and kitchen beneath, two floors of bedrooms, and a jacuzzi and BBQ area suspended closest to the sea.

It means the view is of uninterrupted ocean, but will only appeal to someone with no fear of heights - and complete faith in the steal beams anchoring the house to the cliff.

Would you live there?
In the UK, cliff top living has become decidedly less appealing in some parts of the country, as severe erosion in recent years has cut a swathe through the cliffs, and brought hundreds of homes worryingly close to the edge. In the next 20 years at least 200 homes are at risk in the UK - and in the worst case scenario we could see 2,000 lost to erosion over this period.

We have seen a number of homes meet their demise in the past year alone:

The storm surge in December last year caused devastating damage to seaside towns. In Hemsby in Norfolk five houses were washed into the sea in one night.

In April we reported on the cottage being demolished in Birling Gap, near Eastbourne - in an effort to take it apart before it fell into the sea and risked damaging the other properties in the adjoining terrace. It's the third of the seven cottages in the terrace to go this way - after three metres of cliff was eroded in just four months.

At the end of last month The Mirror reported that Kate Bush could become one high-profile celebrity in this position, after coastal erosion near her cliff-top home on the coast near Kinsbridge in Devon.

But what do you think? Are you worried by coastal erosion, do you suffer from vertigo, or do you fancy a house suspended over the sea?

Unusual properties on AOL
Floating cabin lets couple live off-the-grid
Your own private island just £3.95m - in Berkshire
Is this the UK's tiniest house?