It’s not uncommon for someone to announce that they’re relocating. Moving into a new house is a wonderful experience, despite the hassle and inconvenience.
But physically relocating a home? This is probably not something you hear all that often.
A 19th-century home in San Francisco was relocated last year. It was moved seven blocks away from its original location to make way for an eight-story, 48-unit apartment building.
The Victorian house was relocated 0.6 mile away to a different street, near to a historic mortuary, with the owner intending to rehabilitate it.
Tim Brown, a real estate broker, purchased it for $2.6 million in 2013. He had been planning its relocation for years, but it wasn’t until last year that everything was planned out—and paid for—that the move became a reality.
Moving such a large and hefty weight, you see, was not an easy task. And by no means a cheap one.
Brown spent $400k on the entire project.
‘Parking meters were ripped up, tree limbs were clipped, and traffic signs were repositioned along the route,’ The Sun wrote at the time.
All of this did not come cheap. The owner paid $200,000 in fines and another $200,000 for the relocation.
Brown’s original intention was to repair the 139-year-old structure and repurpose it into seven residential flats.
The move began as early as six a.m., yet it still drew a large number of people who wanted to see the unique performance.
The home was loaded onto gigantic dollies and carried at a maximum pace of one mile per hour to its new location.
People gathered nearby couldn’t stop snapping videos and images of the event, which went viral on social media and was broadcast on news stations.
How did they respond to the news? People appear to be divided about whether the move was worthwhile.
‘Many thanks to the owner for saving this lovely home.’ ‘This house withstood the 1906 big earthquake that leveled most of San Francisco,’ someone wrote in the comments section of The Sun’s YouTube video.
Some individuals liked the proposal since it saves an old building while allowing for smarter land development.
Others, on the other hand, were astounded by the amount of money spent on this project, as well as the ramifications if it did not make it through transit.
‘[T]he money this would cost the new owners could be better spent, […] if something went wrong during transportation and the building collapsed, imagine how many people would be at danger, it’s ludicrous.’
Well, it appears that it is up to each of us to judge whether the risk and investment were worthwhile, but it is undeniably a spectacular display.
In the video below, you can see how the house was transported!