Mansion on the move

For Cameron Scott, hauling a Victorian mansion through the narrow streets of San Francisco seemed meant to be.

Not long before the 27-year-old foreman at Scott Heavy Movers set off on the seven-block and 11-hour adventure this past February, he imagined what the challenge would be like as he flipped through the book “San Francisco Relocated,” which documents everything from houses and apartments to churches and schools being moved throughout the city.

“Seeing all those buildings and stuff … it’s just really narrow, and it’s just a feat that I knew our company could do,” Scott said. “That feat of moving a house in such tight quarters – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Scott was so revved up after reading the book that he told his father that he wanted the challenge. About a week later, his dad informed him that his wish was about to come true.

“My dad comes up to me and says, ‘We got a phone call to move a building in San Francisco. You’re going to get what you want to do, but it’s not going to be easy.’”

Not easy indeed. Scott was tasked with driving the truck that was hauling the 139-year-old mansion about a half-mile across one of the most densely populated U.S. cities that features extremely narrow corridors. And he had to navigate these tight corners as hundreds of onlookers marveled at the sight.

Despite having more than 30 home moves already on his resume, Scott admitted that this challenge was “nerve-wracking.”

Nerve-wracking also may be a good way to describe the process to make the move possible.

Before the move

The actual move wasn’t the only challenge facing Scott Heavy Movers, a California-based company that has been moving homes for decades.

It was a three-year process leading up until the day of the move that drew national attention from such media outlets as NBC, NPR, and Forbes.

The owner of the Englander House decided that 807 Franklin St. would be prime location to build apartments. Razing the historic structure was not a consideration, so it had to be moved.

Still, transporting the 133-ton mansion a half mile to 635 Fulton was not something that could be done on a whim. According to the San Francisco Historical Society, a Victorian home hadn’t been moved through a crowded city street since 1974.

Naturally, the endeavor led to quite a bit of planning and paperwork.

“The permits and approval process can be complex,” Scott said. “We went back and forth a couple of times. I think it was somewhere between 12 and 16 different companies that came together to make this move work. This is actually the hardest part of any move because you have power lines, electrical lines, internet, cable; just a lot of stuff that goes into it all.”

Between 100 and 150 people were on the job. The total cost of the Englander’s move came to $400,000. The permits alone cost about $50,000.

The day of the move

As the monumental haul began, an audience quickly grew.

“It was nice to see a community coming out to actually support and be happy with what we’re doing, because it’s normally only 10 or 15 people,” Scott said.

“To see the people there so happy when you make a corner or get in a tight spot … the crowd was oohing and ahhing and clapping or, you know, taking deep sighs in … to support us the whole way. And it was great.”

But the spectacle also meant that any mistakes would be captured for the world to see. No doubt, the pressure was on for the experienced yet still young driver, especially when you consider how small the margin of error was around some of the tight corners.

Scott said the key was patience and a positive attitude. Some of the turns took up to 20 or 30 minutes each.

“If you start thinking what’s going to go wrong … You’ve got to stay positive and hope for the best.”

But Scott isn’t going to take all of the credit for his precision driving.

“I’m not going to take all the credit,” he said. “I had my father up front near me through every corner and guiding me through,” he said. “And he was telling me how much I had on each side of me and told me when to cut into the corner. And then we also have guys in the back.” LL