"It's just unbelievable," Ed Ullrich said. "We are anxious to see this house move and get it in place. just looking forward to it."
Ed and Justine Ullrich of Yardley, PA are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new house, which is making its way on a barge traveling down the Barnegat Bay from Surf City to Brant Beach on Long Beach Island.
"Moving a house we've seen a lot of on Long Beach Island," Justine said. "Pushing a house under a bridge is something new I think for LBI so that would be something. I want to see it happen and then I'll feel relaxed."
The house is being moved to make way for new construction. but instead of knocking it down, builder-developer Patrick Moeller decided to spend about $75,000 to move it three miles south and recycle the structure. Moving it by land wasn't an option.
"A lot of these houses, the land is so valuable but the houses are actually nice," Moeller said. "They really shouldn't be torn down."
To get to its destination, the three-story, four bedroom house first had to be raised in place on a series of steel I-beams before being moved over to the waiting barge.
The house weighs between 60 and 80 tons and has some history to it. Part of it used to be the old Carrrel Island gun club. The likes of baseball legend Babe Ruth used to hunt duck out of here.
"There's some history there, the original hardwood floors, the beams are going to stay put because we love that part of the history of carrying that on here at LBI," Ed said.
