In the predawn darkness, the Mack truck shuddered into gear, and the century-old historic home it was hauling inched forward.
And then it stopped.
The team of specialists from MCF Home Movers, as well as an army of workers from local utilities and the City of Franklin, methodically measured and sized up the transportation of the house as it was pulled through downtown Franklin from East Wayne Street to an empty lot on Madison Street.
Doing so required power lines and other wires to be raised up, tree limbs to be cut and every movement of the gigantic dolly holding the house to be analyzed.
After more than four hours of start-and-stop work, the historic home had reached its destination, a triumph of many different groups helping preserve a piece of the city’s history.
“It’s pretty incredible when you think about it. If this wouldn’t have happened, we’d have a crane in here smashing it to pieces instead of saving it,” said Rob Shilts, executive director of Franklin Heritage Inc. preservation group.
Before today, the historic home had stood on East Wayne Street since the turn of the 20th century. Most recently, the house had been owned and restored by the Rogers family. When they purchased it from the bank in 2015, it was a wreck, Robert Rogers said. The home had been vacant for three years, with much damage throughout the structure.
Though they had hoped to save the original plaster walls in the home, too much moisture had accumulated, making them impossible to salvage. Instead, the house was completely gutted and redesigned, with the help of their contractor, John Williamson. The idea was to make it as close to what it would have been in 1898 as possible, Robert Rogers said.
The house is fully restored inside and out, including architectural elements from Madison Street Salvage that had been taken from other historic homes matching the time period.
They succeeded, which is what made saving the house so important, Shilts said.
Though the Rogerses lives in Mount Vernon now, they have watched with interest as the house’s fate has unfolded.
“Much has changed on the street since we moved in and the Bemis brothers have been great neighbors. It didn’t seem at times that the house would be saved, but we certainly appreciate Franklin Heritage for making it happen,” Robert Rogers said.
The house needed moving as it was one of the structures slated to be torn down for an $11 million mixed-use development dubbed Newkirk Square. For more than two years, The Bemis Group has made preparations and acquired properties in downtown Franklin to accommodate the project, which will bring high-end condos, townhomes, restaurants and retail to downtown by the end of 2023.
Seeing the structures that would be demolished to make way for that project, Franklin Heritage leaders started working to see what could be done.
“Everybody comes to town for the historic character, but if you get rid of that, people will wonder, ‘What’s so special about Franklin?'” Shilts said.
The process has taken nearly two months. The move is part of a coordinated effort between Franklin Heritage Inc., the office of Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett, the city’s street department, Franklin Community Development Department, Franklin Board of Public Works, the Franklin Development Corporation, The Bemis Group, Duke Energy and other utility companies.
In recent weeks, the team from MCF Home Movers, based in Petersburg, had raised the house off its foundation, supported it and moved it onto a massive dolly ready to be pulled through town. Utility companies figured which lines would need to be raised so the house would clear it. The city removed stop signs and street markers so the structure could make turns.
All of that planning came together on Tuesday before the sun came up.
Mike Deffendoll, owner of MCF Home Movers who has more than 40 years experience moving houses, walked in front of the truck, watching sides and orchestrating its position with each movement. The driver for MCF masterfully followed his direction, taking advantage of the smallest margins to sneak the house down the street.
Following the house’s every move was Craig Wells, who had purchased the house.
“We thought it was a great way to keep this from going into a landfill, and preserve the history and the character of the downtown,” he said.
Wells, who owns the home on Madison Street next to where the historic house was moved, had initially intended to build on the vacant lot. But when the option to move an already finished historic home was presented, they felt it was the best option, he said.
The cost of moving this is about half the cost of building new, so you have that cost savings in addition to reducing waste, he said.
Wells wasn’t alone in following the move on Tuesday morning. Small bunches of onlookers stood around watching the project unfold. Victor and Linda Hughes of Greenwood were there right at 5 a.m., sitting in chairs watching every movement.
“I’m 65 years old, and I’ve never seen a house moved before,” Victor Hughes said. “We walk down here in Franklin a lot, and saw all of the work they were doing getting ready to move the house. It’s something you don’t see every day.”
Over the course of three hours, the house made its way through the downtown streets — down Monroe Street, then turning onto Home Avenue and heading north. The work was slow, but fascinating as the MCF team made minute adjustments allowing the structure to pass by obstacles with inches to spare.
The turn at Home Avenue and Madison Street was particularly tricky, and the truck had to inch forward and backward multiple times to avoid clipping a tree trunk.
Still, they were able to make the turn. When the house passed by the final obstacle — a guy wire supporting a utility pole — a small cheer went up from the gathered crowd.
Work will continue in the coming weeks to put supports underneath the structure and build up the foundation, Shilts said.
But the hard part —moving the house to its new home — is done.
