Castle in the Sand

While beachgoers and surfers take advantage of the last rays of afternoon sun, even the most adventurous will return home when the moon rises. But one person will go to sleep amid the crashing waves, nestled in the rambling structure he built with his bare hands: Nissim Kachlon, self-taught architect and engineer, who for more than 45 years has been chiseling and spackling this earthly paradise.

These days, however, Kachlon, a baal teshuvah known as the “Hermit of Herzliya,” is distraught. The elaborate cliffside cave he’s been living in for almost five decades after abandoning city life is being threatened with a demolition order by Israeli authorities, who claim his structure is putting the abutting cliff in danger of collapse.

A visit to Kachlon’s abode, however, makes it abundantly clear why he says, “I’m not budging from here until they take me out dead.”

Arriving at the house is an adventure in itself, a journey traversing two worlds: The first is traveling from wherever you live to this fairy-tale town of Hollywood-like mansions and sports cars that only the rich and famous can afford. Then you continue into another universe, leaving 21st-century civilization behind as you pass a mosque and navigate a cliff. Two signs indicate that we have arrived at the right place: The first says “Habayit shel Nissim,” and the second reads “Closed on Shabbat.”