From the Windsor Daily Star – August 30, 1956:
So last time a highway was built through Windsor, they moved six houses to a new location, rather than demolish them when the 401 came to town. How many houses were moved when the parkway came to town? When did it stop becoming feasible to move buildings? Seems like building got moved fairly often in the past…
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I suppose someone has to want the house and have a place to put it I agree that I have seen many houses moved over the years but, like everything else, it's probably become prohibitively expensive and anyone with the wherewithal probably just buys something new or up for resale. There don't seem to be as many building lots available outside subdivisions in convenient areas and distance could only ramp up the cost of moving. Here, along Lake Erie, they still sell individual properties but most people build new Mcmansions on the large, high priced lots.
I wonder if these 6 houses are still standing today!
I think its our throw-away society. A house was also a home back then. Now, a house is just a place to rest for a couple of years before a person buys another one and moves further into suburbia.
I thought that they did move a couple houses for the Parkway construction, but when I tried to find some information about it with a quick Google I didn't see anything obvious turn up. I may have just been bad at searching.
As a side note, noticed this article at windsorite:
http://windsorite.ca/2012/11/city-of-windsor-prepares-to-demolish-derelict-downtown-houses/
I think this has been discussed here in the past already.
To answer the question above.During the demolishing of the properties in the parkway corridor ,I have seen 3 homes between cabana down highway 3 to Howard ,being moved off it foundation and taken somewhere else.Its rare to see that ,but obviously these people must have had fond memories of these homes if they must have negotiated in moving them instead of it being torn down.Very rare to see this.I have taken photos during this period ,so if I come across one ,then III post it.
Another consideration... there aren't too many 1000 sq ft homes built in the last fifty years that lend themselves to being moved. Quite a few monster houses out there. I got pricing once on just lifting my former VLA era home off its pier-and-beam foundation to pour a basement and was shocked - we moved instead.
I'd sure love to know where these homes are now.
This makes all more impressive what my legal father did with his wartime house on Forest: hoisted the whole thing up with jacks and built a basement under the house. As far as I can remember he did the whole thing himself. One of his grand-daughters, her husband and two boys still live there today. He moved the whole house..... vertically.
That's amazing, Douglas. The house I was referring to was actually right in that area too - on Louis. I loved the street. Just outgrew the house. Really wanted to stay. Great neighbours.
i grew up on Meighen rd in the sixties a family across the street from us jacked up their house to do a basement after it was done it was the highest house on the block kind of looked out of place
a lot of houses were moved when they were making the E C Row expressway, a lot from the area by Walker Farms, we used to see these houses go past my house, which, sadly, was demolished. I often wondered who was uprooted to make the 401 and what they did with the houses, and yes, are they still standing today?