Video: House ‘installation,’ road closure on 61st SW

FIRST AS-IT-HAPPENED REPORT, 11:23 AM: Some days just have a theme. Today’s theme is heavy equipment. Our next stop post-totem pole: We’re in the 3200 block of 61st SW, where a house is being installed, in four pieces built offsite. 61st SW is closed in the block immediately south of Admiral as a result, till 3 pm, by the way. We arrived in time for the third of four pieces to be craned into place at the site (video added 1:08 pm):

If you’ve driven past Salty’s on Alki in the past day or so, you probably noticed the sections, which we’re told were brought in by barge. The project’s being overseen by Double Diamond Remodeling, whose owner Dave Farrell says the owners chose to buy a house built offsite – it’s a 2-story house going into a fairly small lot. Homeowners Leonard Jones and Charlie Fink joke that they hope to be settled by Thanksgiving – though their actual moving-in will be a lot sooner:(video added 1:09 pm):

The house itself was built by South King County-based Timberland, which comes in tomorrow to start “matching everything up,” Farrell says. 1:44 PM NOTE: The fourth piece was being trucked in just as we left after the third one was secured. Adding two more photos – a long shot for perspective, from before piece #3 was installed:

And as close as we could get to the house after:

The “no parking” signage on the street is marked until 5 pm, but as noted earlier, the crews were expected to clear 61st SW sooner.

3 Replies to "Video: House 'installation,' road closure on 61st SW"

  • Barb W July 28, 2010 (12:09 pm)

    Charlie & Leonard are a textbook case for “good neighbors”. They did an amazing job of keeping all of us informed of the work, the schedule, the permits, etc. They are also letting our little boy watch the excitement from the safety of their garage. This is super cool to watch!

  • mrsB July 28, 2010 (3:33 pm)

    Just drove by – the road is open again and the house looks amazing!

  • Arlene Carter July 29, 2010 (8:37 am)

    Woo hoo – congratulations Charlie and Leonard! Thanks for providing the entertainment for all of us while getting a new house for yourselves! This story is amazing – barge, helicopter, close the street. Who would have thought that you could get a new house this way? Only Charlie!

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