The Biggest House Move Ever Seen on Anna Maria Island!

A house move of epic proportions took place on Anna Maria Island on May 18-23 2011.

The Angler's Lodge, a derelict, 98 year old, 2,000 square foot house, weighing 300,000 lbs, was literally lifted and moved from its previous location on North Bay Boulevard, Anna Maria, to a new home, where we will recycle it to become part of our sustainable development, that is the Anna Maria Historic Green Village.

It took months of preparation and 3 days of heavy work to actually move the Angler's Lodge. Initially, it was lifted and rotated by 90 degrees and then pulled across 55 ft of water, over a canal, on a bridge that was constructed in 3 hours, purely for the sole purpose of carrying the house across. It was then driven very slowly on the back of a truck along 1/2 mile of road, to its new home, on the site of the Anna Maria Green Village on Pine Avenue.

Watch the action from the day on our You Tube Channel.

There was nothing simple about this move and despite the amout of preparation, it still had the opportunity to go wrong, not least it falling into the canal! The building itself is quite fragile. We filled the walls with concrete to build strength, the corners of the house were reinforced with steel rods to enhance the rigidity and we put crossbeams in every room to keep the integrity of the building when it was moved. The absolutely heart stopping moment, was the second day. This was the day we had to cross the canal. We built an i-beam bridge, covering it with steel plates and very slowly drew the house over it. The weight of the house actually crushed some of the 6' x 6' timbers as it came across, so there were guys diving into the water, trying to prop it up using little bits of wedges! We knew the team knew what they were doing, but it was a very anxious time!

We purchased the Angler's Lodge for $10 from the Anna Maria Historic Preservation Society. And, people ask us why we have saved the Lodge. Why let a crucial part of our history to be destroyed because someone wants a nice clean plot of land that they can build new homes on? To us, it was the obvious thing to do. We had some land and we have an Historic Green Village.

Mr and Mrs J R Wood of Ellenton built the Angler's Lodge in 1913. Mr Wood was a vegetable broker andowned several packing houses and farms. He subsequently became the Mayor of Ellenton. The family used to travel from Ellenton by steamship to enjoy days on Anna Maria Island and named the house "Thelma by the Sea' after their daughter. Thelma was a beautiful young woman and modeled for many publications, including the first ever tourism brochure for Anna Maria. Two brothers Edward and Robert Scott purchased the Lodge in 1972 as a holiday home for when they wanted to get-away from their home in Tampa. In 1992, they sold it to Mrs Agie Hebebrand, who as the last owner of the Lodge, donated it to the Anna Maria Preservation Trust to ensure that it was protected and became part of the legacy of the City of Anna Maria Island.

At it's final resting place, the Angler's Lodge has been placed alongside the Rosedale Cottage - now the Village Cafe at Rosedale - a house that like the Angler's Lodge was also built by Captain Mitch Davies, the first and one of the most respected Mayor's of Anna Maria Island. Both homes were built using the same rusticated blocks.

We are so relieved that the Lodge is now on the site and we have the chance to really do the hard work, which is getting the building renovated, make it green, start talking to people about the history and start to use it for a use the community would really like to see. We don't know what that is yet. But it's going to be great!

What we do know, is that whatever it becomes, it is certain that like the Village Cafe at Rosedale and the Sears Cottage, which is now home to Really Relish, a fabulous vintage clothing boutique, it will reach Platinum Standard in the LEED certification programme for green energy efficiency.