The limestone Orchard Beach Shelter House was relocated in 2020 from the eroding Lake Michigan shoreline by Wolfe House Movers. This project was awarded the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation in May 2022 by Michigan’s State Historic Preservation Office. Image source: Wolfe House Movers.
Based in Bernville, PA and providing services throughout the country, Wolfe House & Building Movers is a leading contractor in the industry of building elevation and relocation. While flood adaptation and flood regulation compliance provide a valid rationale to lift or move a building, property owners also lift or move buildings for a myriad of other reasons — for example, to repair and reconstruct deteriorated foundations; to save a building from redevelopment and demolition; to repurpose a building into commercial or public use at a new location; or, to make way for railway construction. Currently, Wolfe House Movers deals with up to 500 elevation and relocation projects a year, covering buildings of different construction types (brick, stone, terracotta/concrete masonry and wood frame) and various scales (ranging from single-family homes to a 156’ wide, five-story hotel) — many of which are historic structures.
Wolfe House Movers has helped to adapt a number of historic or existing buildings for flood resilience through elevation or relocation interventions. Among their flood adaptation projects are the elevation of the Greek Revival residence at 260 Main Street in Owego, NY (see here for an interview with its homeowners); the elevation of 1 Water Street residence in Charleston, SC (see here for an interview with the project's preservation architects); the elevation of 42 Rutledge Avenue in Charleston, SC (the first historic home lifted in Charleston); the elevation of a single-family home in Carolina Beach, NC; the relocation of Orchard Beach Shelter House in Manistee, MI from the Lake Michigan shoreline; and the relocation of The Pollocksville Depot in Pollocksville, NC. The company was also responsible for the 2008 relocation of the Hamilton Grange mansion in New York City into St. Nicholas Park.
In this interview, Mr. Robert Sauder from Wolfe House Movers discusses how the company’s expertise informs solutions for the flood adaptation of historic properties, as well as how flood-related elevation and relocation demands are influencing the building lifting & moving industry. This interview was carried out on Feb. 15, 2023 over Zoom.
“Historic buildings and residences often bear great emotional and heritage values, which serve as a rationale for property owners to seek elevation or relocation."
Ziming Wang: How many building lifting/moving projects do you carry out each year? Among the buildings lifted or moved, how many are designated historic properties, and how many are lifted or moved for flood resilience? How have flood-related elevation and relocation demands evolved in recent years?
Robert Sauder: We typically deal with a couple hundred projects each year. Among them, a significant portion are the elevation or relocation of historic buildings — although not all of them are Federally or locally designated. Historic buildings and residences often bear emotional values or heritage values that are far greater than their material values, which serve as a rationale for property owners to seek elevation or relocation. Many homeowners that come to us would display a strong sentimental connection to their historic homes.
Flood-related elevation and relocation demands really fluctuate with region and time. For several years, flood-related projects may account for 50%-75% of all projects carried out in some of our regional branches; after a major flood event, we typically have a greater amount of people calling in for inquiries. Many flood-threatened homes have repetitive flooding issues — most homeowners that made up their minds for elevation or relocation had already experienced multiple flood impacts.
Ziming Wang: And for those buildings elevated or moved for flood-related reasons, how many are residential homes, versus structures of commercial or community use?
Robert Sauder: The majority of structures we deal with are residential homes. Very often, homeowners are seeking FEMA compliance through elevation; and a decision they have to make is how much additional freeboard height they would need above local BFE (Base Flood Elevation) or DFE (Design Flood Elevation).
Ziming Wang: In my previous interviews, many preservationists and homeowners have stressed the importance of financial incentives from FEMA or National Park Service in bringing their flood adaptation projects into fruition. How often are your clients able to secure these incentives?
Robert Sauder: As a contractor, our work is largely focused on the design and execution of elevation and relocation projects. However, we do advise our clients to speak with State and local preservation agencies, in order to acquire information on necessary review processes and available financial resources.
Ziming Wang: Speaking of real-world projects, what’s the typical cost of elevating a detached residential house, of wood-frame and masonry construction, respectively? How long will it take?
Robert Sauder: Well, building lifting is not a cheap and inexpensive process. There are many factors — such as foundation type, building size, the height of elevation — that may significantly influence the cost of elevation projects. When houses are elevated for flood resilience, flood zone designation also matters: for example, buildings in the V Zone may face stricter foundation requirements than those in the AE Zone. Masonry buildings are of course trickier than typical wood-frame buildings — they are both heavier, and more fragile. So in general, an elevation project can range from two days to several weeks to complete, and may cost anywhere between tens of thousand to hundreds of thousand dollars.
Ziming Wang: I noticed that you’ve successfully moved and lifted a great number of historic buildings built of timber frame, stone, and bricks. Could you give me some more ideas on the technical challenges associated with elevating or relocating a masonry building?
Robert Sauder: It has to do with how deflections created in the elevation or relocation process are translated within different structural systems. Wood frames are pretty forgiving, as they are able to re-adjust themselves for deflections, and relay these deflections among posts and beams through the building fasteners. Masonry buildings don’t have such ability, so if proper care is not taken some damage may happen when they are lifted or moved. To restrict deflections, shimming treatments are necessary for brick buildings; stone buildings tend to be even more technically challenging, so we sometimes need to grout their joints, beams and lintels. Also, the irregularity of stones may make stone buildings more susceptible to damage — that’s why I said that masonry buildings are not only heavier, but also more fragile.
Ziming Wang: As an elevation and relocation contractor, what are your major considerations when carrying out elevation or relocation projects on historic properties?
Robert Sauder: First of all, it’s important for us and other parties involved to get the basic information right: we need to know which era the structure was built in, as well as the building’s construction type and material. We then try to decide the “carry line” with property owners and preservationists — in other words, the height at which the structure will be cut through and lifted or moved. It has to do with what parts of the building are considered historic — if a building’s foundation is deemed historic, we’ll lift it with its original foundation; if its floor system is historically significant, we’ll make sure to keep the original floors. For elevation projects, the aesthetics of transitional materials between the lifted building and the new foundation also matters a lot.
Ziming Wang: With more and more buildings being elevated or relocated for flood resilience, how would you imagine future urban form changes?
Robert Sauder: Echoing your research, I believe that one of the challenges would lie in the flood adaptation of attached buildings in urban settings. In theory, it’s possible to lift a city block as a whole; however, such urban-scaled intervention will need to be built on more creative design and engineering strategies, as well as more innovative policy-making. There might be other alternatives as well — it’ll be great if policy-makers in different cities can objectively evaluate available flood adaptation strategies versus what is deemed historically significant in the local urban environment, so we may have a better idea on how to adapt historic buildings while preserving their heritage values.
Ziming Wang: And it comes to our final question — what changes would you like to see in the fields of flood regulation and preservation standards, in order to make the flood adaptation of historic properties more common and affordable?
Robert Sauder: I would say more clearly-stated standards, and more streamlined permit and review processes. Every time you add a procedural burden to the elevation or relocation project, it’s going to become a deterrent to prospective property owners.
Ziming Wang: Thank you for providing interesting insights from the perspective of those who actually lift and move historic buildings!
* This interview text has been transcribed and edited based on the interviewer’s notes.
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