March of the Mansions

Yesterday morning 3 old Victorian homes were moved along the middle of Mass Ave in Cambridge to a new location a few blocks down. What a surreal parade. The photo above is from today's Boston Globe. I stopped by their new location Saturday early evening and a crowd was still checking the scene out. The worker below answered bystanders' questions and filled us in on the details of the move. The houses were placed on hydraulic trolley beds with tiny little wheels, about 4 ft off the ground. It then only took 3 men to steer the houses down the street using remote controls, much like a video game or remote model cars. Trees had to be trimmed, posts and street lights removed or shifted. The largest mansion had to straddle the center median. The move took 5 years of planning. It made me think of Howl's Moving Castle.

Now the houses stand in their new places while their foundations are built.

Here's the spot they used to occupy.

And now to shift topics completely, here's the finished wrap. I'm very happy with it all around except that's it's smaller/shorter than I had hoped. I went with a smaller gauge so I guess that's what I get. I think I'll have to redo it or else I may never wear it. It was alot of fun to crochet so it wouldn't be horrible to redo.