MOVING DAY

This Victorian house isn’t eager to relocate to a new neighborhood in San Francisco. It feels a lug and a tug as it’s lifted onto a flatbed behind a truck. A police car leads the way, a crowd begins to form on the sidewalks, and children follow behind, ringing the bells on their bicycles. It’s just like a parade!
The house teeters and totters when it turns the first corner, and the crowd cheers when it makes it. Workers remove street signs and trim branches that are in the way. When the house comes to a steep hill, everyone holds their breath until it makes it safely to the bottom. But it isn’t until the house sees its family standing in its new spot that it realizes it’s right where it belongs—with them—and moving isn’t so bad after all.
 

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​This story was inspired by the 139-year-old San Francisco Victorian house that was relocated in 2021. Built in 1882, “The Englander House” was originally lit by gas and survived the famous 1906 earthquake. Instead of tearing down the home to build a planned condominium complex, the developer decided to move the 133-ton, eighty-foot-long building. It took almost eight years to plan the move, as fifteen city agencies had to be involved to move parking meters, traffic signs, and overhead utility lines; trim trees; and redirect traffic.