He moved his house piece by piece to 150 km away for 23 years!




In 1953 the authorities of High Street Ware, Hertfordshire, England, May Alice Savidge evicted by a municipal works. His house and his dog Sasha were his only legacy and heritage, so he decided to demolish, sort, move and reconstruct stone by stone and with his own hands, the same house in a nearby county to more than 150 kilometers. The task took more than 23 years.Alice may Savidge was born in Streatham, south London, in 1911. From humble origins had to get his family out with only ten when his father died of a heart attack. May finished as early employed in a factory for aircraft production.The prodigious life of May, ripe for 'shock and misery of life', is full of surprising chapters. But one mark if destination. At sixteen, she met the love of his life, Denis Watson, a talented actor 'Shakespearean' with plans to marry in 1938. His premature death frustrated his plans. The engagement ring would accompany him in his misery forever.


original house


In 1947, withdrawal and even eternal mourning for the death of Denis Watson, May purchase a home in Hertfordshire to restore it and turn it into a home you always wanted to share with Denis. The number one Mono Row Street building was a time, typically English and erected in 1450 by wealthy monks following the medieval tradition of rooms open to conservatory.The house was half ruinous and May decided to invest all his efforts, and little money in its restoration. The few pounds that had invested in the raw material and in a constructor where you fix his small stature prevented him from there: the shattered roof.The rest (carpentry, plaster, bricks, stones etc ...) made it with his own hands and eventually gave him his eternal solitude. In 1953, after six years of work, ended May tidy up your home. The pride of a job with his fingers wrought out of that house was an inviolable space, a possession eternal fruit of the effort and mourning his dead love.


Tile by tile ordered may the roof.


But I was to come the greatest of her problems. In the spring of that year, county officials approved a project to remodel the entrances of the village. The road passed by mid-May and would plot to expropriate and demolish your home. Fifteen years of red tape and fight against the city council were insufficient. The defeat plunged not May and reinforced his passion for his life project. With 60 years decided to move their home piece by piece. "I will not miss this wonderful home, my home. If you really believe that this is just a house in the middle of the road, I will move and build again before seeing her destroyed. " In 1969 the bulldozers came to the door of his house, the project had already begun May. He had numbered each and every one of the beams, stone pillars and tiles for later identification and re-assembly as a giant puzzle. The effort led to the compassion of the demolition team, which helped to clear more carefully May the mighty wooden structure of the roof.



Grease and children's crayons, May cataloged and classified all parts of the house along the portion of the parcel expropriated. As he dismounted his house, the nights became colder and because May was discovered living in the skeleton of its former home. Gradually the story crossed borders and spread the word by counties. Some tourists who passed May helped with their time or donations, which allowed him to survive and buy necessities. May was a long time looking for land to rebuild your home.  He found a lot in the nearby coastal town of Wells Next The Sea, Norfolk, and obtained planning permission to lay the foundations of their new home. A small truck and infinite journeys made ​​the move one of the longest in history. 23 years moving stones. In the eternal movement, the conditions of May were of genuine hardship. No electricity, no running water had to settle for Victorian kerosene lamps. A small clock served as a stopwatch to count the beams and pieces that had to draw every day, ordering deadlines and work objectives.



A little old caravan abandoned now served hideaway. In 1973 it had raised the foundations and brick plinth of the new house. It was not until 1981 that managed to cover water and put the old tiles. It was the time in his 70 birthday, moving to his new (old) home. In 1986 the Queen of England herself, recognizing all the work and effort made, Alice May Savidge invited to Buckingham Palace in official reception. Despite his age, 76 years was perched on a temporary scaffolding to complete the lower-deck windows and plaster facade. In 1992 he installed a small wood stove to heat the building. May died the same year, just before reaching age 82, almost finished with the house but with the feel of a fragile shell of paper by one of the builders responsible for their rehabilitation.



The house today


His niece and heiress Christine Adams, has collected more than 500 letters, diaries and writings that his aunt did during the 23 years of reconstruction to tell the details and troubles of this fantastic story. Currently the house is a Bed & Breakfast run by Christine.Deshacer cambios