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Tiny Oakland house moved down street after owner’s death

In this Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 photo, a house on Martin Luther King Jr. Way is moved to its new location at 52nd St. in Oakland, Calif. Years after a big city sprouted up around a tiny California house and its elderly owner refused to sell the only home he'd ever known, heavy equipment rolled up to the lot. But the San Francisco Chronicle reports that it wasn't there to demolish the three-bedroom Oakland house built by Lawrence Bossola's parents. When Bossola died in 2001, the adjacent hospital was finally able to buy the land it needed to expand. Officials were surprised when several people vied for the opportunity to relocate the little house. (James Tensuan/The San Francisco Chronicle via AP) In this Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 photo, a house on Martin Luther King Jr. Way is moved to its new location at 52nd St. in Oakland, Calif. Years after a big city sprouted up around a tiny California house and its elderly owner refused to sell the only home he'd ever known, heavy equipment rolled up to the lot. But the San Francisco Chronicle reports that it wasn't there to demolish the three-bedroom Oakland house built by Lawrence Bossola's parents. When Bossola died in 2001, the adjacent hospital was finally able to buy the land it needed to expand. Officials were surprised when several people vied for the opportunity to relocate the little house. (James Tensuan/The San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

By Associated Press October 19, 2015 1 min read

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Years after a big city sprouted up around a tiny California house and its 87-year-old owner refused to sell the only home he’d ever known, heavy equipment rolled up to the lot.

But it wasn’t there to demolish the three-bedroom Oakland house built by Lawrence Bossola’s parents. It was there to move down the street.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1LjOmHC ) that a hospital next door bought the land after Bossola died in 2001. Officials were surprised when several people competed to buy and relocate the house.

The anxious new homeowners watched early Sunday as workers picked up the house and then set it down on its new lot. Curious onlookers snapped pictures as it traveled down the street.

Owners Kathleen and David Stone say it cost about $75,000 to move the house and demolish the basement.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com