Moving a house to North Vancouver from the shores of Lake Washington near Seattle isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
Homeowner David Webbe saw the 4,700-square-foot home for sale on the website of Nickel Bros., which is in the business of moving structures but also “recycles” buildings.
He paid $195,000 for the 30-year-old house and about another $30,000 to barge it to a waterfront lot on Lowry Lane in picturesque Deep Cove.
Webbe, 58, owns a construction company and estimates building a home like the one he moved would cost four times as much as he paid for it.
But he knows how it looked Wednesday to anyone in a little park to watch the house float in from the fog.
“This is a crazy idea,” admitted Webbe.
Even crazier was buying the house online, without actually visiting it, and telling his wife about it after purchasing it in January.
They were on vacation in Jamaica at the time.
“I was on the beach and said to my wife, ‘We’ve bought a house,’” recalled Webbe. “She said, ‘I didn’t even know we were even looking for one.’ She said ‘Where?’
“I said ‘Lake Washington, near Seattle.’ So she said, ‘Are we moving to Seattle?’ I said, ‘No, we’re moving the house.’”
There was another complication for the couple, who currently live on Beachview Drive, just above where their new home is located.
“At that point in time, we didn’t have the lot,” he said.
Webbe’s backup plan was to move the house to somewhere they could use it a vacation home.
“I knew the house was good value,” said Webbe. “It’s got a lot of character and my wife loved it — thank God.”
But they were lucky enough to find a lot for sale on Lowry Lane, although they had to demolish the existing home and excavate deep enough so that their new home won’t contravene height restrictions.
“The lot is almost made for the house,” said Webbe.
A small crowd gathered Wednesday to witness a little bit of Deep Cove history. They snapped pictures and looked on in various states of amazement, like that expressed by Webbe’s friend Clark Gray.
“I’m speechless,” said Gray, who had never before seen anything quite like the house move.
“It’s unique, isn’t it?” he said.
But it wasn’t to Nickel Bros.’ Ron Nickel, who has moved “lots” of houses over the past 40 years.
“I’ve lost count,” said Nickel.
He said the Lake Washington house was a little different, though, because of its size and the steepness of the lot from which it was moved.
Its move was also delayed for a month because a bridge near Everett was being repaired and couldn’t be lifted to allow for passage of the house. The move also required a high enough tide at Deep Cove.
The house was moved on beams that essentially became a trailer.
Once in the lot Wednesday, it had to be jacked up so a foundation could be built.
After some renovations and a small addition, Webbe expects to be in the home by the end of March.
