The historic Turnock-Morse house moved a few metres on Tuesday and settled down into what will be its final resting place on St. Anne Avenue.
An agreement between the City of Maple Ridge and the developer is allowing the preservation and renovation of that house, while new condos go up beside it on the property in Port Haney.
Over the winter, crews have been working on the foundation of the condo building and for the house. Once a concrete foundation wall is built, the house will be lowered down and secured to its final spot.
The complex is currently a jumble of concrete and rebar but site supervisor Joe Barkovich says that will change soon.
With the foundation ready, “it’s going to fly once we get the framers here.”
He expects the entire project to be complete by October, with a little luck.
“If everything falls into place, it should happen.”
But not only is it tough to get trades people, such as plumbers and electricians, rounding up timely delivery of construction materials is also a challenge in the hot Metro Vancouver housing market.
A property tax exemption for five years on the restored house, which will be turned into an duplex, is also part of the agreement.
The Cape Cod style home was built in 1938 by Joseph Turnock and is on the Maple Ridge heritage inventory. He and his wife, a few years later, gave the home to their daughter Iris, who had just married Garnet Robert Morse, ancestor to past Maple Ridge mayors Bell and Kathy Morse.
A notice in the Haney Weekly Gazette from August 1938 says, “Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Turnock are erecting a lovely new home on St. Ann, just across the corner from J. Nightingale. They expect to take up residence there some time in September.”
