For a large portion of the Virginia Eastern Shore population, livelihood is tied to land and water, inseparably. Life on this shore proves that land/water relationships are constantly re-negotiated. There is ample evidence that upward migration of seawater is causing long-familiar changes to happen faster than previously observed. As the sea moves inward and upward, families who have lived and thrived at the water’s edge will redeploy their assets as needed and shift their energies towards more aquatic-based production.

The project examines cycles of change in managed retreat at the scale of the independent property owner. What happens at this scale says a lot about the future of life on the shore.