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Palo Alto Online

The ultimate recycle

by Elizabeth Wagner

Amid classified ads for free coffee tables and couches, University Lutheran Church volunteer Duane L. Bay found something very unusual -- a free house.

Seven months ago, Bay came across this most peculiar and intriguing advertising -- Free four-bedroom, 3-bath to non-profit organization.

"It was a Christmas miracle," Richard Foster, pastor of the University Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, said.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 7, contractors will slice the picture-perfect four-bedroom, two-bathroom home into quarters, hoist it by section onto wide-load trucks and cart it to the University Lutheran Church on the corner of Bowdoin and Stanford Avenue in Palo Alto, where it will serve as a residence for the church's pastor.

Though the 30-year-old house, owned by Claudia and Charley Geoly, is in good condition and in a great neighborhood, it could not safely support the second story the couple wanted to build.

But it seemed like a waste to tear down the house, said Claudia Geoly, because five years ago they remodeled their backyard, kitchen and master bathroom, installed hardwood floors, windows and air conditioning, and constructed cabinets in the garage.

"If someone can donate a car, why not a house?" said Claudia Geoly, who said construction on the family's new home will begin in September and should be completed in a year and a half.

The Geoly's decision to build a new house has brought financial relief to the parish.

The chaplain's rent comprised 25 percent of the church's annual budget, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to afford housing with the escalating home prices in Palo Alto.

After desperately seeking an affordable residential facility since 1995 with no luck, church volunteers had given up hope of raising the half-million dollars necessary to construct a place.

"We were coming to a point where it was virtually impossible to continue with operations," Bay said. "Things were looking rather bleak."

Bay's discovery pumped life into the project.

"It was like the project was alive again," Foster said.

Though house moves are rare in California, they are common in Claudia Geoly's childhood city of Houston. She saw Victorian homes move all the time, as it is still common for people to buy houses without land in the south.

Yet, it's a complicated process. While the Geolys are paying the $12,000 to move the house, Bay took on the hefty role of project manager and has had to acquire more than10 permits to simply move the house from Menlo Oaks Drive to Stanford Avenue and numerous others just to have the house sit on the property, which will take up part of the church's parking lot.

On Aug.2, University Lutheran Church held a thank-you celebration. Afterward about 50 church volunteers will start removing appliances, light fixtures, window coverings, and cobble stone pavement from the house to be used at the new location.

"We are getting bells and whistles," Foster said, referring to the washer, dryer, furnace, cabinets, and shed the Geolys are recycling as well.

"We were tired at the end of the day, but by gosh, this is the greatest enterprise we've ever had."