By Stephen Schreiber

Early in the morning of October 29, Amherst residents had the opportunity to witness an entire house moving through central Amherst. The Charles Osgood House was relocated from 24 Dickinson Street approximately three-quarters of a mile to North Whitney Street, traveling along Main Street. It was a large undertaking involving dozens of utility workers, house movers, builders, structural engineers, and other specialists. Among the challenges was crossing the railroad tracks twice.

The Charles Osgood House was built around 1870. It has two wings totalling approximately 3,000 square feet and, like many houses in central Amherst, is a two-and-a-half-story building with a gable roof.

Moving houses is actually a fairly common practice in Amherst. In my own neighborhood in central Amherst, there are at least four houses that have been moved during the 20 years we have lived here.

The Gass brothers, Amherst builders active in the middle of the twentieth century, moved a number of houses from communities that were displaced by the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. One example is the Captain Lombard House on Triangle Street, originally built in 1767 in Enfield, a town that was lost to the reservoir. Another is the house at 58 Woodside Avenue, which is actually a combination of two Quabbin houses brought together at the site.

I spoke with Barry Roberts at 3:00 in the morning during the Osgood House move. Roberts estimated that he has moved approximately 20 houses in the Amherst area over the course of his career. Some of these projects involved particularly difficult logistics, including crossing bridges, traveling along dirt roads, and arranging for the temporary removal or relocation of numerous utility lines. For this particular move, Roberts said that one of the biggest challenges was getting in touch with the freight railroad company whose tracks the house had to cross. In fact, the moving convoy broke down for about an hour near the railroad tracks because of a hydraulic problem.

The actual process of moving a house is fascinating. First, the building must be separated from its foundation, lifted, and supported by an engineered system of steel beams. Hydraulic jacks raise the structure, which is then transferred onto specialized wheeled dollies. The house essentially travels on its own temporary foundation. These buildings weigh tens of tons, and distributing that weight carefully is critical. The movers must also be mindful of the roads, railroad tracks, and utility lines, all of which can be damaged if the operation is not carefully managed.

All of this comes at a considerable cost. Roberts indicated that moving the Osgood House approximately three-quarters of a mile cost well over $125,000. That figure includes building permits, engineering, separating the house from its original foundation, excavating for a new foundation at the destination, and transporting the building itself. Anyone who was out on Wednesday night into Thursday morning would have seen dozens of workers laboring through the night. And this was only the most visible part of the operation. Workers had been preparing both the Dickinson Street and North Whitney Street sites for weeks.

Roberts was the developer overseeing the move, but the project will ultimately be owned by another developer, Joel Greenbaum, who, according to newspaper reports, plans to use the building for a combination of offices and housing. Barry did not disclose his plans for the now 24 Dickinson St.

As of Sunday morning, the house was sitting on temporary supports, known as cribbing, at approximately the elevation of the first floor of the new site. A permanent foundation will be constructed beneath it, and the surrounding property will eventually be regraded.

Photos by Jane Thurber.

Stephen Schreiber is an architect and was chair of the Department of Architecture at UMass Amherst 2005-2026. He was an elected Town Councilor in Amherst from 2018-2022.