"A spectacular" house finds new home up north

Crowds of people stood near the shores of Cozy Cove in Hunts Point on Tuesday to watch as a 3,360-square-foot house was rolled onto the barge that will carry it this week to Fanny Bay near Nanaimo, B.C., on Vancouver Island.

After weeks of preparation, it took little more than 20 minutes to roll the two-story, tudor-style house onto the barge.

"It's quite a spectacular house," said Jeff McCord, of Nickel Brothers House Moving USA Inc.

Built in 1979, the house features extensive detailing: leaded windows, hand-carved moldings and Scandinavian navigation charts set into the staircase walls.

The former owners paid $9.4 million for the 44,000-square-foot lot on Cozy Cove last June, according to public filings. They liked the location but not the house. Rather than demolish it, they decided to preserve the house — in effect recycling tons of wood and other materials, McCord said.

The owners, who asked to remain anonymous, signed a contract with Nickel Brothers, a British Columbia company with offices in Everett, McCord said.

Nickel Brothers listed the house for sale at $335,000, which included moving it to a waterfront lot.

Once the house is planted in Fanny Bay, it will be the home of buyers Tim O'Farrell, a British Columbia ferry captain; his wife, Jennifer O'Farrell, a physician; their 6-year-old son; and two daughters, who are in their early 20s.

Jennifer O'Farrell said the family got interested in moving a house after seeing an earlier move, and began looking for something suitable.

"I looked at it, and I like the layout," said O'Farrell, who watched the activities at Cozy Cove on Tuesday.

"This is a good deal"

Preparation for the move began weeks ago. The house was emptied, though kitchen fixtures and the hot tub remained. It was elevated above its foundation, then giant steel beams were placed beneath it. Then wheels were positioned under the beams.

A house can be moved and installed for about half of what it would cost to build a similar structure, McCord said.

"This is a good deal," said Jennifer O'Farrell. "If I were to build this house, it would be a minimum of twice as much." Once it arrives in Fanny Bay, it will take some time before the house is finished.

Foundations usually are installed after a house arrives at its new location, McCord explained. The technique involves putting the house on its new site, then dropping plumb lines from the corners and other locations to assure the new foundation aligns with the house precisely. This compensates for the fact that old homes often aren't in square. The new homeowners will have to foot the cost of the new foundation on top of the moving costs.

Another chance

A different Hunts Point house was offered free in 2005 to whoever would move it. Located at the north tip of the peninsula, the 1949 house belonged to Stan Sayres, famed 1950s Seafair hydroplane racer. It was designed by Roland Terry, a noted Northwest architect.

The fact that the 6,860-square-foot house was built on a concrete slab, however, complicated any potential move, since there was no crawl space in which to place steel beams. There were no takers.

Town of Hunts Point records show a demolition permit for the structure was issued in March 2007 and the house was torn down shortly thereafter.

Now the property has been planted in grass, the owner has applied to the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies for permits to replace a bulkhead and build a new boathouse, and the 2-acre site is for sale at $22.8 million.

A careful journey

At 2:21 p.m. Tuesday, when the Cozy Cove move finally got under way, a tow truck hitched to the beams supporting the house slowly began inching forward onto the barge, pulling the house behind it.

By 2:46 p.m., the house was in position on the barge, and Boyer Towing, the company transporting the house, began turning the barge so the garage could be brought aboard.

Then the careful journey to Canada began: across Lake Washington, through the Montlake Cut, out the Ship Canal, through the Ballard Locks, into Puget Sound, then north to the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland to Fanny Bay.

The house should arrive there about Thursday, said Boyer Halvorsen, owner of Boyer Towing.

McCord said the Cozy Cove move represents significant advantages for all the parties involved, including the new owners and the environment.

"This saves 200 tons of waste that would go into a landfill," he said.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.