The move of house number “807” became viral after paralyzing several streets of the city of San Francisco. The owner Tim Brown, is a broker who decided to move the entire Victorian building 7 blocks away. The main reason is to use the empty space left by the house for the construction of an apartment building in which there will be 60 homes.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Tim Brown had to disburse a sum of $400,000 to circulate his house around town. The responsible in charge of carrying out this project was Phil Joy, who claims to have obtained 15 different approvals – from several agencies – to carry it out.
The property was designed by the German architect Wildrich Winterhalter and built in 1880. It has six bedrooms and three bathrooms. The last time the house was sold was in 2013 for a sum of $2.6 million which seems low to the current worth of $5 million.
Same House, New Neighborhood
For 138 years, the property was located at 807 Franklin Street, where it survived 2 earthquakes (1906 and 1989). Now, it’s located at 635 Fulton Street. Needless to say, hundreds of people took out their phones to record the event by re-witnessing a mobilization of an entire house after more than 40 years, because the last one registered in the city was in 1974 when 14 places were moved.
The operation was not easy, the logistics took months of planning and several engineers and workers participated. Not only to move the property, but it was also necessary to pull out of the way traffic signs, parking meters and remove several branches of trees that were on the way.
So, yeah, imagine telling your boss that you showed up late to work because there was a 139-year-old Victorian house rolling through the streets of the city. I know, I wouldn’t believe it either unless I saw it.
