AVALON — A family has donated an entire house to Habitat for Humanity and is contributing to the cost to move it from Avalon to a lot in Upper Township.
The arduous, painstaking work of moving an entire home is underway. Adam Szyfman, 39, is buying a property for roughly $1.7 million down the street from the side-by-side where his family currently lives on 22nd Street. He wanted a spot on the bay, and a single-family home, but knew his young family would outgrow the two-bedroom house, built in the 1940s, that was already on the location. They plan to build a home suited to their needs in its place.
“So we went over to the house ... we walk in, we’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh. This house is like gorgeous.’” Szyfman said. “It’s not your old cottage, run-of-the-mill. ... It obviously had some very recent updates to it. It was just beautiful.”
So he’s donating it to Habitat for Humanity of Cape May County, which is orchestrating a move to a location on Redwood Avenue in the Marmora section of Upper Township. The final part of the process — actually transporting the house — is set for later this week.
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Getting an entire home donated isn’t commonplace, said Sarah Matthews, executive director of the charity’s Cape May chapter. The process is moving quickly as a result. The Redwood Avenue plot, which the township previously donated to Habitat for Humanity, is already equipped with a well and a septic system, and the chapter is preparing to open up applications to families.
“Because this happened so quickly, it kind of took us by surprise,” Matthews said. “It should be ready by the time we’ve selected a family.”
Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit in operation since 1976 that has volunteers build homes side-by-side with the needy families that eventually move into them with a no-interest mortgage, according to the nonprofit’s website. The house donated by the Szyfmans will be the chapter’s nineteenth since it built its first home in the area in 1993.
On Thursday, giant steel beams had been slid under the gray-blue bayside bungalow’s foundation, and workers dropped the roof so it could travel underneath highway overpasses on its journey. Adam and his wife, Jen, 41, stood with their son Max, 4, on their future front lawn, in front of what would soon be another family’s home.
“It feels great,” said Jen. “I’m glad we’re able to help somebody else and give them a new home. It’s wonderful.”
The chapter is often invited to salvage cabinets, bathroom fixtures, lighting and more from houses slated for demolition, Matthews said.
“But donating (a full home) has not been the standard rule of thumb,” Matthews said. “We have had one in the past. I’m not sure how many years ago it was but it has happened once before for us.”
Springer said some owners offer to donate homes that aren’t up to their strict standards around energy efficiency, insulation and more, and aren’t salvageable.
“And this house was just perfect,” Springer said. “It was completely renovated; it’s gorgeous inside.”
There may be more donated homes in the future, Matthews said. Someone else reached out recently to donate their home.
“So I have a feeling that we might get a couple more calls,” Matthews said.
Szyfman saw the idea of the house being torn down as simply wasteful.
“There’s so much life left in the house,” Szyfman said. “It’s gonna be someone’s forever home, instead of going into a dumpster.”
First, this one will need to hit the road: a serious logistical undertaking to which the Szyfmans are donating $5,000. It will be transported by Dennis Creek House Movers about seventeen miles at a snail’s pace on the Garden State Parkway north to exit 25.
“Redwood is not too far inland once you get off the parkway. But, you know, you gotta get through Avalon and you have to get across the little 21st Street Bridge there. That’s the part we’re all interested in,” Matthews said, laughing. “Once it’s over the bridge, we think it will be smooth sailing.”
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