Guy Pays $400k To Have His $2.6M Victorian House Moved 7 Blocks In San Francisco
It’s not every day people move homes. It is a bit of a hassle with all of the packing, deciding what to move, cleaning up and then settling in in the new place. On the other hand, it’s definitely a breath of fresh air and a new start of sorts.
Well, sometimes you get lucky and you don’t have to move house as much as your house has to move. A building in San Francisco recently did just that—it was moved whole blocks to a new address. Like, the entire house was picked up, put on wheels, and transported to a new location. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
Usually when people hear ‘move house’, they mean switching apartments, not moving the entire house…
Image credits: AP Photo / Noah Berger
So, San Francisco, California is home to a lot of stunning architecture—and not just sleek modern homes, but also vintage, Victorian-era houses.
One such house, the Englander House, is actually in the news today as it was picked up and placed on a flatbed trailer and transported a whole 7 blocks away to its new address.
The Victorian architectural masterpiece is a 5,170-square-foot (roughly 480-square-meter) house that has been around for 139 years now, since 1882. It was transported at the average speed of 1 mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour) for 0.6 miles (roughly a kilometer) from 807 Franklin St. to 635 Fulton St.
The 1882 Victorian ‘Englander House’ in San Francisco was recently moved to a new location 7 blocks away
Image credits: AP Photo / Noah Berger
Namely, the 5,170-square-foot house was relocated from 807 Franklin St. to 635 Fulton St., 0.6 miles away
Image credits: The Sun
The move was by no means a cakewalk as the project was said to have cost around $400,000 and also involved the necessity to remove street lights, parking meters, and utility lines, among other works. Over 15 different permits were acquired to make this move a reality.
The move was carried out at 6:15 in the morning, but that didn’t stop around 600 spectators from showing up to see the show. Some noticed how the wheel axle was bending sideways and the tires were looking a bit flat due to the weight of the house.
It is said the move cost ~$400k and involved the removal of things like street lights and utility lines
Image credits: AP Photo / Noah Berger
Here’s a Google Maps visualization of the route and distance that the house traveled
Image credits: Google Maps
Real estate broker and investor Tim Brown bought the house for $2.6 million back in 2013. For a while now, it was in his plans to move the building to its new location.
Now that it’s in place, Brown has ideas to transform the house into seven residential units. As for the place it has left behind—there are plans for it to become the location of a new 48-unit apartment building.
While commenters were wondering how much outrage this must have caused—wasting money on having to adapt the streets and causing somewhat of a traffic jam for those actually commuting—others actually found this a positive move as it allows for smarter land development and the money boosts the economy.
Real estate broker Tim Brown bought the house for $2.6 million back in 2013
Image credits: The Sun
It was moved to make way for a new 48-unit apartment building that will be popping up in the near future
Image credits: The Sun
Yet others joked how they should have just used balloons, a subtle nod to the Disney movie Up, and also wondered what the parking fees would be for stopping a vehicle of this size with a load like that for a lunch break.
Needless to say, the move went viral online, being covered by numerous news media outlets and being featured on various social media, including Imgur and Reddit.
As for the Victorian house itself, it will be renovated and transformed into 7 residential units
Image credits: The Sun
Watch a video of the move in action
What are your thoughts on this? Would you rather move your entire house than just yourself? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here’s how people on the internet reacted to this story
I only get this if it was his dream house to live in, yes it’s a truly stunning building....but.... he’s not, he’s simply converting it to flats to on sell. Have I missed the point?
yup, u did miss the point - he is a property developer, i.e. wants to make as much money as possible with a) the original plot and b) the available victorian house (probably a listed building that u could not just tear down)
Load More Replies...
The house is going to be utterly ruined by chopping it up into separate units anyway, so why bother with saving it?
My sister - who works in real estate - did this years ago with a house (in Oregon)she got for almost nothing (because the land it was on had been sold to a developer). She moved the house a few blocks, then rehabbed and flipped it for a tidy profit. Illustrating once again that working in real estate has it's perks that go well past commissions
I only get this if it was his dream house to live in, yes it’s a truly stunning building....but.... he’s not, he’s simply converting it to flats to on sell. Have I missed the point?
yup, u did miss the point - he is a property developer, i.e. wants to make as much money as possible with a) the original plot and b) the available victorian house (probably a listed building that u could not just tear down)
Load More Replies... The house is going to be utterly ruined by chopping it up into separate units anyway, so why bother with saving it?
My sister - who works in real estate - did this years ago with a house (in Oregon)she got for almost nothing (because the land it was on had been sold to a developer). She moved the house a few blocks, then rehabbed and flipped it for a tidy profit. Illustrating once again that working in real estate has it's perks that go well past commissions
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