June 13, 2014 2:14 PM EDT

A $700,000 house perched atop a 75-foot cliff over Lake Whitney in central Texas has been reduced to ashes — intentionally.

Portions of the 4,000 square-foot building began to crumble into the lake when parts of the cliff were destroyed in a landslide. Authorities ruled out options such as pulling the house back with a net and letting it fall into the lake by itself because of safety and cost issues. They deemed setting the house ablaze the cheapest and safest option.

The house began to burn down at 10:00 AM local time.

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