Southold house moved across the street to make way for FD
If you went away for the holiday weekend and just returned to Boisseau Avenue in Southold, you might feel a little disoriented by the changed surroundings.
That’s because a house that has sat on the west side of the road for the last five decades has now been moved to the east side. The 600-foot trip across the street took place last Thursday.
The moving of the house, which was purchased for $412,000 by the Southold Fire District last year, will give the fire department a second entrance onto Boisseau Avenue from its station on Main Road.
The district purchased the property after receiving word that the owner was looking to move out of state, according to fire commissioner Bill Witzke.
The house, which had occupied 315 Boisseau Avenue since 1964, was put out to bid for relocation or demolition. The party that purchased the home from the fire district also bought land on the opposite side of Boisseau Avenue, where the house now rests.
“You know the old saying, it’s now just a stone’s throw away,” Mr. Witzke said.
Rich O’Neill and Michael Byrne of Top Class Elevations in Huntington moved the structure. Mr. O’Neill said the company moves about two houses per year, and while 600 feet might not sound like a lot, its actually a longer-than-average move.
“Moving down the road is not very common,” he said, explaining that they mostly lift houses or move them back slightly on the same parcel. “There’s a lot involved in it and it’s very expensive.”
When you’re moving a house, you have to expect the unexpected, he added. In this case, the house was 29 feet, three inches high, so power lines needed to be taken down temporarily to slide the house onto its new property.
The move included two days of prep time and a full 13 hours last Thursday to go from point A to point B with a crew of nine men and utility companies on standby.
“There’s no turning back,” Mr. O’Neill said of this type of project. “It’s not like you can just leave a house in the street overnight.”
Top Caption: The house during the moving process last week. (Credit: Jeremy Garretson)
