Updated: A little after 2 a.m. Sunday, a house pulled out of its parking spot on Palatine and headed to its new home ten blocks away. Literally.
As you might imagine, it was a slow, painstaking process. The truck moved only a couple miles per hour, and it stopped every few feet as crews checked the house, surrounding trees and overhanging wires from every angle.
Dozens of neighbors gathered to watch the event.
One man even played “The Saints go Marching in” on his trumpet.
As the home creeped toward intersections, like here on Palatine and 36th St., utility crews removed overhanging wires. In some cases, they had to hold up the wires while the house squeezed underneath.
New owner Steven Flynn (on the right) watched as the house made its way up steep Phinney Ave. to its new parking spot at 4020 Evanston. “It all started with the rug in my dining room,” he jokes. “One thing led to another.” Flynn said he was growing tired of his small, flimsy house when he saw the two-story home on Palatine. It was scheduled for demolition, but Flynn worked fast to line up the arrangements to buy the home and move it to his property.
While the move was scheduled to be completed at 7 a.m., crews were just backing the house into its new lot at 11 a.m.
The transport took longer than expected, as the house’s height combined with steep streets had line crews scrambling at every intersection. When asked if this would cost him a lot more, Flynn replied, “Yes, yes it does,” before running over to help crews move a board into position.
It was also a little tricky backing the home down the incline into the lot.
But the house’s new neighbors were happy to see the new addition. “I’m glad you saved that old house,” one woman told Flynn. An amazing thing to watch.
Update: Fremont Universe reader David has video. Thanks David!
5 responses so far ↓
1 milo dakkat // Sep 7, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Boy, it’s a good thing they had a lot for already ’cause that thing would have been a bear to have to parallel park on the street.
2 Beth // Sep 7, 2008 at 5:44 pm
So interesting that they had to move along the power lines!
3 David G from Zillow.com // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:29 am
Hey Geeky Swedes - great blog! Here’s a videao I took of the move: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc2JQbUqLY8
4 Harold // Sep 8, 2008 at 11:29 am
Thats crazy! I wonder what type of permits are required to do something like that.
5 Jo Anne West // Oct 2, 2008 at 10:45 am
This may be a little late, one of my co-workers just sent me this link. I hope somehow this gets to the new owner as I and my other 4 brothers and sisters grew up in this house! I and my siblings were able to go thru the house before it was initally to be demolished. I also happen to work for the building dept. (DPD) so I knew soon after application.
We moved out around 1975, my father was a typical blue collar worker and my mom the overworked homemaker. Many of us who grew up on that block are still in contact and we all have wonderful memories of our childhood in Fremont even tho back then it was pretty much an industrial area and we were often thought of as “the bowry children” but even my old child hood chums thought we had the best house, much to our suprise. I use to tell the story of ghosts being in the attic to control my brothers and several years ago when the past owners were still alive a brother visited the home and the owners too thought they experienced my invented “Caspers”, it was only then I told my brother I had made it all up. My room was at the top of the stair, the now red room. I often explain our walk in closets which most didn’t have and were often turned into club rooms, adventure rooms w/our imagination(never had enough clothes to fill one sm.rack). In my day dreams I always imagined the house fixed up and that’s exactly what the new owners did and it made my Mom and Dad proud. Turning the place into a bed and breakfast was perfect for altho we had a lot of kids in the place already my parents were always taking in people who needed place to stay or our relative from Alaska would come down or send their kids for us to take care of during fishing season. None of us were happy to see my father sell the place, it was a very sad and unfortuate move….but all has turned out amazing and we’re all very happy how things have turned out. May the new owners experience all the love, joy and wonderful memories it gave us!
From the West Family
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