Relocating a home to save it from the wrecking ball

[Liberty Ridge]

Hello All.

My husband and I are exploring the possibility of relocating a historic house cir. 1880. The county owns the lot where it currently sits and wants to demolish it. As a result, we are interested in moving it approximately 20 miles to the rural area where we live, renovate it, and make it our family home. The house is a 3700 sq. ft. (including 1 two-story addition and a one-story lean to), two-story, wood house. It has been lived in until recently and appears to be in good condition, although the exterior is covered by metal siding. We will meet with an experienced structural mover next week to look the home over, but, sight-unseen, he has discussed cutting the second story off and piecing it back together at the new location. If this were your home what concerns would you have about cutting the home apart? Would this be a deal breaker for you?

[GothicHome]

Liberty, it sound like one he'll of plan. A skilled and experienced mover should be able to do it with out much
Fuss. With a new foundation your House should last another 130 years.

[Josiecat]

Wow, thank you for saving a piece of history. I hope it works out for you.

[Liberty Ridge]

Thank you both for the encouragement. We are cautiously optimistic and praying for a good outcome this week. Since I see that pictures are popular, I will post the pictures I have of the house soon.

[SkipW]

I have seen several house moved that had sections cut off to make the size easier (or even possible) to fit either on a trailer or down a road. I have never heard or seen one cut in half like a layer cake. It doesn't seem to make the move any easier except if you have major height restrictions or there is a serious weight issue.

My first thought would be where are they going to to "cut the second story off"? Are they going to dismantle the wall bottom plates from the second floor? cut the second floor wall framing in half? They can't take the second floor but leave the first floor ceiling...

Are they going to re-frame the second floor to first floor joint when finished, or re-frame the second floor walls when the reattach the top if they cut it in the wall section?

I think it is great that you wantto/can do this and save an old house. And I'm sure these guys know what they are doing. I would just ask a lot of questions and also contact a good contractor (or your own if you have one) to see if they will be htere for the movers meeting and ask the right questions.

Good luck and you are right about pictures!!!

[Liberty Ridge]

SkipW,

Thank you for your comments, great food for thought. We have scheduled a meeting this week with a contractor who specializes in preservation/restoration work. He has done work at several of the historic landmarks in TN and came recommended by my state historical commission. As a result, I have a lot of confidence in him. I inquired with him about the feasibility of slicing the house horizontally, and he informed me that it can be done successfully. Now that transportation appears possible we’re ready to start getting bids back for transport and renovation! We have an extremely tight turn around to get a proposal in to county officials. Again, thanks for the ideas, we will keep them in mind while we have the mover onsite.

[Josiecat]

Oh my goodness, how exciting!! Please post pictures.

[lavender_bush]

We didn't move our house but we do have pictures of the trip she took - these were taken by an interested neighbor.

The ell and the main part of the house


Lots of workmen to take the wires down while she passed through.


The turret


Another view of the turret and the front of the house


She now sits on a basement with 10ft ceilings that is the envy of our friends, do excuse the mess, this was taken before we owned the house.

[Liberty Ridge]

Lavender,

Thank you for including these photos. I saw a couple of them in another post and thought to myself, "Well, if they did it..." So from what I understand you all purchased AFTER the home was all put back together, correct? Are there any issues that you feel have arisen as a result of the move? We are going this afternoon to meet with the structural mover. I'm a bundle of nerves!! This will be my first look at the condition of the second floor. And I will have my camera in tow. Thanks all!

[lavender_bush]

That's correct, she'd been moved 5 or so years before we bought her.

I don't think that apart from the basement which is obviously new construction and totally up to code that you'd know she'd been moved, she still has floors that are 'off' and the moving didn't correct them. We call it character

I'm still surprised when I look at the pictures and realize they removed the roof! You honestly couldn't tell that from our attic, it's all old timber and joists.



BTW - she was one of 3 guest houses built on a large estate and the only one to survive once the town realized that it was cheaper to sell her than demolish her. It's a pity they didn't figure that out sooner