I remember being in the first grade when a house in the neighborhood was being moved down the street - and our teachers would walk us over to watch it. Quite a sight! Whenever I drive by the house now I still think about it, too. It must cost a fortune. And it seems structurally precarious.

About 20 years ago a historic house in the area had to be moved like this. I don't remember what it was called but it was definitely a spectacle for the locals.

I've seen it several times in Reykjavík. Not sure why they're moving so many houses, or if it's just that the old tiny timber frame houses here are easy to move, but it's quite interesting to see.

There's a company on southern Vancouver Island that does this all the time in Victoria,the Lower Mainland and into norther Washington State. You can get a beautiful, vintage home for about $50,000 + shipping.

They roll them down the road late at night. Sometimes, they're taken to the nearest shore and floated away on a barge. A house from Victoria can end up in the San Juans.

Our town moved several historic houses to one area to have a sorta museum area. I was annoyed at first because it's tradition for the elementary schools to do walking field trips through town to look at all the historic houses and markers. But it's cool because you can go inside and tour the houses (which I always love) and they have all kind of antique items through the houses from appliances to an old hair permer that looks like a torture contraption.

sometimes it's done for entirely different reasons: the resettlement projects in 1950s and 1960s and 70s Newfoundland emptied many small communities. Many houses were floated around bays to larger communities. Families lost generations of history and their ties to the land in the process. Over 300 communities were abandoned, and some 28,000 people relocated.

And we need only to think of the forced removal of aboriginal peoples into reserves.

Thus, while we can look at this process with fascination (and I remember watching these kinds of processes with awe as a child), there can also be a lot of heartache, sorrow and loss associated with them. Relocation can be sexy, but it can also be really, really ugly.

This is so impressive to me. Especially because where I live houses are build out of stones (well, bricks, I don't know the terminology), and concrete foundations (earthquakes...). So moving a building is extremely rare. To my knowledge a couple of churches have been moved a couple of meters away, and that because they were monuments and could not be demolished. This is so fantastic for the residents who love their homes not to mention eco-friendly...

Several historic homes and buildings have been moved in Des Moines Iowa. Houses, a row house, even a gas station. It's cool but not easy. It requires working with the city to block off streets and lift power lines. Lots of prep work and then repair afterwards. I know a couple who bought a home for something like $5 but spent thousands on the move, disconnecting, reconnecting and repair. The house had started to pull apart while moving.

I moved a two bedroom farm house about 5 years ago. My grandfather purchased a school house that had been closed in 1950. He salvaged the wood and built a large barn and 2 farm houses for the help. Our family sold the farm, but I moved one of the houses to another piece of property (about 50 miles away). The move cost about $10,000. I love the idea that this house was recycled twice!

Some houses are simply worth moving. I just wonder how all of the mortar does over time in a move of a masonry house. If I were doing it, I think I would:

1. Move the house
2. Immediately re-point the whole thing

My house was cut in half and moved across town two years ago. See photos here for proof: http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=22387

We own a home that was moved back in the 1960s. It was built on its original site in the 1870s, and had to be moved in order to accommodate a new road through town.

A few months ago, we had some plumbing work done, and one of the plumbers said that he actually remembered our house! He was a young child when the house was moved, and he said that everyone in our (at the time) small town came out to watch - it was a big community event! Unfortunately we know little about the history of our old farmhouse, so it was great to hear a first-hand account of the move.

The house in the second photo is in my neighborhood. Kewl! (It's currently on the market, for about $1 million, I believe.)

They moved a house right bast my 4th floor balcony once. It was historic and they were building an office building on its original site. To move it the owners had to get donations from corporations to pay the astronomically high cost. one of the sponsors was the Denver Parade of Homes, an annual high end builders house tour. The funniest part was that in exchange for their donation for the move they were allowed to advertise on the house. So here comes this house down the street with a huge banner that read "Parade of Homes!" We laughed as the "Parade of Homes" passed by!

How much does something like this actually cost?

I had a house moved that would have been torn down for highway changes. It was not the economical, quick, easy project I thought it would be. But then, every building project is harder than people imagine at the start, whatever the method.
Seeing that historic old beauty of a house on the bars makes my heart flutter. Bring it to me and I will sand and scrape and paint and love it.

The house we own had to be moved 5' to accommodate lane access, as the house was built (1895) before the city was developed. Although it wasn't moved a great distance, it was great watching it being hoisted up and moved. We took photos of the whole process, still trying to organize them all.

we looked into this- at least in our area, the moves need to be short- to minimize settling of the house, and traffic needs to be shut down/ the route requires lifting or moving power lines for the day, trimming trees, etc. the cost was approximately $25,000. just for the move. Even calculating in buying a lot, digging a basement and new foundation, running electrical, plumbing, etc., the historical house we wanted ended up being too expensive (they had allowed the roof to leak for years causing VERY heavy - literally- plaster damage which would have further complicated the move). the house ended up getting demolished, after a company from California bought all the nice parts out of it and shipped it away (I live in NE Ohio), which I was happy it was preserved, but sad it wasn't staying local. Funny thing is, we ended up buying an old house 3/4 mile off the town square which is about a hundred years old according to property records, but the more we dig and look at the foundation and timbers, we think it's much older, and was moved from the square to it's current location about a hundred years ago. :)

I've seen three homes being relocated in my lifetime, one of them being the one in the second picture. It is a historical house in Northampton, MA. I remember seeing some restoration efforts previous to the relocation. Maybe they were preparing the structure for the move. Another home right down the street from me was moved. I believe it was purchased from a nearby college and relocated somewhere around campus. It's so interesting to watch all the people gathered around, hoping that the house makes it to it's new land.

Harvard University moved 3 historic buildings in 2007 to make room for a new building. Quite a sight to see, and quite an undertaking! Mass Ave, a major thoroughfare through Cambridge, was closed for an entire weekend and electric bus power lines all had to be taken down. Check out this video to see the move in progress:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhPYknymr8o

omoriala - That's so neat! I moved to Madison that next winter, I'm sad that I couldn't come watch it be moved!

I grew up near a historical villiage (Greenfield Villiage, part of the Henry Ford museum complex for those who live in MI) which has historic buildings from all over the country. I remember learning as a kid that they actually dismantled most of the houses and then reconstructed them on the new site. I also kind of wondered how big of pieces they ended up moving.

I had my house moved. It had literally been thrown away in the ditch. Driving by one day, I asked, "what are you doing with that house?" and the guy said "Getting rid of it, want it?" Well, ya..... :)

I had a friend in high school who lived in a house that had been floated down the river 50 years before. It was quite a rambling old house, and I can see why the previous owners were attached to it!

I have seen one moved before, too, in Red Bank, NJ, but I can't for the life of me find any pictures!

My parents moved a house from one lot to another. They had to hire cops to close down the street, and utility crews to man the top of the house as it passed under electrical wires. It was pretty exciting for a kid.

Mother wanted to build a new house, and my father wasn't interested in tearing down the old one, so they had it moved about eight blocks away on the same street. It still took all day.

I used to live in an 1860s Victorian that had been moved 6 blocks down the street back in the day. I had no idea they still did this.

The Best Part: Why did they move my house back then? A bordello opened up across the street.

How about the Cape Hatteras LIGHTHOUSE!

How about the Cape Hatteras LIGHTHOUSE!

My parents had a house built that was brought in 1 piece by a truck (not a trailer or modular home) and it was slid across beams on top of the foundation and lowered. It was so cool! Some friends of my family had a historic home moved about 20-25 miles to their farm and completely renovated it. It even made the newspaper during the move, and took several days to complete.

And I can't even move a wall in my apt, because it's an old building, that's so unfair!!!

When I came to California from the east coast, I so wished I could have moved my sweet little house. If I could have, I'd still be living in it! :)

My grandfather did it back in 68.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50294796@N03/6039327401/in/set-72157627149031044