NOW THAT’S MOVING HOUSE!
139-year-old home taken to new site all in one piece
IT’S a historic slice of San Francisco that had stood unchanged for 139 years.
Until now. For this six-bedroom home has had to make way for a modern block of apartments.
But it hasn’t been demolished. Instead, the building was uprooted from its city centre plot, loaded on to a giant wheeled base and gently rolled downhill to a new site six blocks away. Locals lined the streets to take photos as it was driven, at a top speed of 1mph, around the corner to its new address on Sunday.
‘There she rolls,’ shouted one mover as the two-storey home started on its journey from 807 Franklin Street.
It took a tight corner on to Golden Gate Avenue and at one point briefly snagged on a banner hanging from a telegraph pole.
The 5,170 sq ft house was nestled into its new spot only a couple of hours later. But the operation, which cost £285,000, had taken several years to plot, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Veteran house mover Phil Joy said he had to secure permits from more than 15 official agencies to get parking meters ripped up, tree limbs trimmed and traffic signs moved in preparation for the move.
Movers dug down to the house’s foundations, inserted steel beams into them and placed hydraulic jacks underneath to lift it up in one piece.
The 19th century home was bought in 2013 by stockbroker Tim Brown with a view to refurbishing it, according to news site Hoodline.
The structure will now be converted into seven residential flats at its new address at 635 Fulton Street.
It was the first time in 50 years that such a house move had been attempted, according to the San Francisco Historical Society.
Fiona McDougall, of the Victorian Alliance of San Francisco, said: ‘These houses are part of the fabric of San Francisco. It’s important to preserve them rather than replacing them with a bunch of cold boxes.’
‘It’s important to preserve them’