Matt Walker, left, and Jennifer Concklin, far right, watch as the future home of their new southern seafood restaurant is prepared for its move down 4th Street, in downtown Wilmington's Northside neighborhood, on Thursday afternoon.
"It was important to create a space where everybody in the community can enjoy the house not too far from where they remembered it," Walker said. "We're excited to bring its history to light," Concklin added, noting that her research found a resident living in the house as early as 1883. She said the house still has its original nails, glass, and dormer.
Junior Nuñez of Wolfe House and Building Movers sets a foundation in the loose sand where the wheels of a unified jacking system would soon be placed.
Wolfe employee Peter Hansen, who is heading up the house move, tightens straps used to manually steer the rear wheels. He said it's important to distribute the weight -- between 32 and 33 tons -- so house is well balanced during the move.
"We've moved an armory in India, the Biltmore Hotel in Florida, and Alexander Hamilton’s house in New York City," Hanson said of his time working for Wolfe House and Building Movers. The crew came in from the company's base in Philadelphia; Hanson said they travel all over the east coast – and beyond – for their work.
The backyard of 310 Bladen Street as the historic bungalow is prepared for the move.
The wheels sank halfway into the lot's soft, fine sand before the moving crew laid plywood down as a base.
Terry Espy, president of the Downtown Business Alliance and the realtor who linked Walker and Concklin with the Historic Wilmington Foundation to make the home move possible, walks across Bladen Street Thursday afternoon.
"It’s one of these things that’s a win-win-win for everybody," Espy said. "For my friends who own the lot over there, Jen and Matt who I’ve been working with for a year to find the right restaurant, for the community, for the Historic Wilmington Foundation. Rarely do all the cards line up like that."
Holding a remote controller, Wolfe employee Peter Hansen starts maneuevering the house away from its lot on 310 Bladen Street.
A crowd gathers to watch as the home leaves its lot on Bladen Street.
Neighbor Eric McLaughin said he appreciates how the preservation of the historic home adds to the community. "It's good when you see something that was almost lost, but will now be repurposed and add something to this neighborhood," McLaughin said.
Local photographer Peter Newman launches a drone to capture the house's journey down 4th Street.
The home makes a left-turn from Bladen Street onto 4th Street in downtown Wilmington's Northside neighborhood.
The intersection of Bladen and 4th Street Thursday afternoon. It will be turned in to a southern seafood restaurant on the corner of 4th and Swann Streets.
The empty lot where the historic bungalow on Bladen Street stood.
Drone footage courtesy of Peter Newman/Aerial Images ILM
