Free house in Chesterfield—with a catch
Eva Russo / Times-Dispatch
Dr. Brian Spittle is offering a free house to whomever is willing to move it off his Midlothian property. Spittle purchased the property last year to expand his business.
Published: May 23, 2009
WANT A FREE HOUSE? |
Free to a good home: a good home.
Three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1,900-square-foot frame rancher with vinyl siding. Hardwood floors throughout, a nearly new roof, new replacement windows and more.
On Huguenot Road near Robious Road is a 51-year-old home with your name on it.
All you have to do is move it.
Dr. Brian Spittle and his wife, Norma, purchased the property last year for $321,000 to expand their business, The Eye Place Optometry. "We just outgrew our space," he said.
Not wanting to move far, the couple bought the place two doors down but balked at the idea of demolishing the well-maintained house on the site of his future office. The total property value is $230,800, according to county records, which shows the home's value at just $1,000. Spittle says that's because the land is zoned for commercial use, meaning a home there has little to no value.
"It's a shame to knock it down and put it in a Dumpster," he said -- not to mention that the demolition would cost between $8,000 and $12,000.
Gabor Tarjan, owner of Ace House Movers in New Kent County, said the cost of a local move would start at about $20,000.
"But that depends on where it's going," he said, noting that bypassing utility lines and bridges could add up quickly. Other quotes have ranged as high as $75,000, Spittle said.
Spittle hopes to have the house off the property by summer's end to start construction on his new office.
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or
.
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Reader Reactions
Wow, so I just read the little link there… he wants to have a “green” office….
Wouldn’t it be “green” to not destroy perfectly good structures (assuming no one wants to move it) all for the sake of money? Maybe he’s confused about what “green” means. Dr- “green” means reduce, reuse, recycle; not get more money.
Why not use the structure as is and incorporate it into the planned expansion of the business?
Take out the stuff you don’t need for a business (bath/ kitchen) and reconfigure the space to fit the new need. Add on or up, expand the current space. Hire a good contractor to carefully demo what they don’t need and donate any and everything that can be reused to Habitat or some other worthwhile organization (tax deduction!). It will only go to the dumpster if you’re too lazy to take your time, take some stuff apart, and haul it over to the ReStore.
Has this doc never seen something get renovated before!? Sounds like he just wants the gain with none of the pain.
I have nothing against the good doctor and his wife growing their business. It is truely courageous to offer the house to anyone who can move it, but if that does not pan out how about donating it to the Habitat for Humanity and let them either deconstruct it or move it to an empty lot and offer it to a deserving family. Fifty years old or not it would be a fine home for a family.
ramgrl… you never have anything positive to say. What’s your issue? This is a great deal for the right person.
If you can shoot an arrow with a 50Lb bow through a house it’s poorly made.
A 50 year old house is made with a bit more quality.
Being this is richmond area, pleanty of people have enough land for this house 5 or 6 acres is plenty.
We now have a guest house and land and property value just shot up a bit.
Sounds like a publicity stunt. Why doesn’t he move it to a inexpensive piece of land and sell it? I’m sure the good doctor has the funds, if he could afford to buy the land to expand upon.
Just my two cents…
House “that old”? I wouldn’t buy a house less than 50 years old - when they still took pains to build houses well, using sturdy, enduring materials. I wouldn’t own one of those $500,000 homes in the nicer west end neighborhoods - they are so cheaply and sloppily built that it’s like living in a trailer park (no offense to those living in mobile homes - I am sure they wouldn’t pay $500,000 for a trailer either).
Strip it like you would a car, sell off the parts and use the money collect to defray demolition costs. No one in their right mind is going to pay as much as $75,000 for a house that old to move it when they would have to own land to put it on and it wouldn’t cost much more than that to build a new home if you already owned land.
I am sure some contractor could find use for many parts of the building such as copper piping, bath fixtures, appliances (if any are left), the replacement windows etc.
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