Man pays $400k to have his $2.6m house moved 7 blocks in San Francisco

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By Carina Murphy

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Moving house normally means packing up your belongings and taking them to a new home.

But one man in San Francisco gave the term a whole new meaning when he literally moved his house - porch and all - to a new location seven blocks away.

After 139 years at 807 Franklin Street, the two-story Victorian build known as Englander House was loaded onto giant dollies and taken to its new location on Fulton street.

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Credit: REUTERS / Alamy

Owner Tim Brown - a San Francisco real estate broker - masterminded the move so he could preserve the historic building while developing its original plot into a 48-unit apartment building.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Brown paid $2.6 million for Englander House back in 2013. It is estimated he spent up to $400,000 relocating it down the street, where he has plans to transform it into seven residential units.

Dating all the way from 1882, the mint green Victorian house is over 5,170 square feet. It was transported at an average speed of 1 mile per hour for 0.06 miles, from 807 Franklin Street to 635 Fulton Street around the corner.

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Credit: REUTERS / Alamy

Over 600 people turned out to watch the house make its slow journey downtown, which started at 6.15 in the morning. There may have been a street parade atmosphere, but the trip was no walk in the park.

Street lights, parking meters, and utility lines all had to be removed to make way for the building, and over 15 different permits had to be acquired by the owner.

San Fransisco has a long history of relocating houses, with horses being used to tug them down the street before cars and lorries took over. Englander House is the first to be moved in over 50 years.

Unsurprisingly, photos and videos from the move went viral on social media. Many people took to the comments section to make jokes about the bizarre spectacle.

"Did they simply consider using balloons?" joked one person alongside a picture from the movie Up.

"It doesn't look so good here. Move it back!" wrote another user. "The Victorian ghost lady is so confused I bet," a third added.

Featured Image Credit: REUTERS / Alamy