Historic Daggett house takes a sentimental journey

By Janet Hefler - April 26, 2007

A historic home built by Captain Seth Daggett in 1801 and owned by Ralph Packer began a sentimental journey this week from Beach Street in Vineyard Haven to a lot at the Tisbury Wharf Company property on Beach Road.

The house holds special meaning for Mr. Packer, as five of the seven generations of his family lived there. "All three of our kids seem to have a feeling for it, too, like they do for the Vineyard," Mr. Packer said. "It's just something that grows on you."

After renovation, the Daggett house will be used for waterfront office space. "It would be nice to restore it, and it was kind of buried where it was at Five Corners, so this seemed to be the appropriate place for it," Mr. Packer said. He plans to sell the property where the house stood.

Mr. Packer hired Hayden Building Movers of Cotuit, specialists in this kind of project. Because of numerous utility and power lines along the route from the Beach Street site across from the post office to Mr. Packer's property on Beach Road, it was determined to be less difficult and more cost-effective to move the house down Beach Street extension and float it across on a barge.

On Monday afternoon, rolling the old house from its foundation onto a truck platform went off without a hitch. The next step, however, involved some tricky maneuvering. In order to avoid Beach Street, the movers had to jockey the house into position to exit onto Water Street through a gap between AAA Island Auto Rentals and the home of Gladys Small. Clusters of curious bystanders who stopped to watch took bets on whether the truck, looking like an awkward tortoise with an oversized shell, would fit through the opening.

Unfortunately, the truck started through at a slight angle instead of straight on, and with no room to spare, the old house got stuck on both sides.

As driver Mark Barros tried to inch forward, the left corner of the back of the house caught on Ms. Small's shed roof. The wood peeled upward with a ripping sound, accompanied by the groans of sympathetic bystanders who witnessed it.

"This is a mess and a half," exclaimed Ms. Small out in front of her home, heading inside to check for damage. Despite the setback, the Hayden crew kept their cool. After appraising the situation, one of the workers took a chainsaw and notched out the piece of wood in back that was hung up. With some careful re-angling and adjustments to straighten the house's path, it was inched forward, brushing against the two buildings like a big kid trying to muscle his way past the smaller ones on the playground.

"That was the only way out, and although we measured it many, many times, the house was rubbing on both sides," Mr. Packer said. "But Bob Hayden was able to do it."

He added with a laugh, "They just didn't have enough grease on the two buildings when they went by."

At 2 am Tuesday morning, crews from NSTAR, ComCast, and Verizon temporarily removed utility and power lines on the north side of Beach Street extension so the house could pass by. From 3 to 5 am, the building movers slowly brought the house from Water Street through Five Corners, down to the end of Beach Street extension near Black Dog Tavern.

Yesterday, the house was moved onto the beach next to Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway. It will be ferried across by barge to the Packer property during the middle of next week.

When told that many Islanders are curious about what the project cost, Mr. Packer replied with a laugh, "Well, then let them be curious!" It was hard to put a price tag on it, he added, because some of the work was done in-house, using his company's equipment.

The house-moving project took more than four years to pull off. John Packer, Elizabeth Packer Thompson, and Deborah Packer, the children of Mr. Packer and his wife Dorothy, helped with a yearlong permitting process that started in 2002.

Wanting to avoid summer traffic and winter weather, Mr. Packer said they decided they would move the house only during the months of October, November, March or April. Those months also offer a good range of tides, to lift the barge up higher on the shore to make it easier to load the house onto it.

Mr. Packer hired Nick Willoughby in 2005 for the partial demolition and stabilization of the house. Mr. Willoughby took out the chimney and removed plaster, plumbing, and cast iron bathtubs to help reduce weight for the move. He saved everything, including antique bricks that once made up part of the foundation to use when the house is restored, which Mr. Packer estimates will take about three years.

The Daggett house used to sit on what was the Vineyard Haven waterfront 206 years ago, with its own stretch of beach. Captain Seth Daggett gave the beachfront property in front of his house to the town, which was used to create Water Street, Mr. Packer said.

At the end of its short voyage this week, the Daggett house will have come full circle, once again back on the waterfront, overlooking Vineyard Haven harbor.

An image of the Daggett house in transit, recorded on the mvtimes.com webcam at 1:58 pm Wednesday.	A multi-directional hand signal from Bob Hayden, owner of Hayden Building Movers. Photo by Susan Safford
Now at the water’s edge, the house will be barged across the harbor next week.	The house move on Monday was like a soap opera for onlookers around Five Corners. Photo by Susan Safford