Modern Victorian House Preservation in Oakland

Mike McDonald, an Oakland, California–based builder, faced a common problem for Bay Area homeowners: an aesthetically pleasing, historically significant, but structurally shaky Victorian. A full renovation was in order, as was a solid fix to a fragile foundation. With a boom of new construction afoot in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood—a good indicator is the Whole Foods under construction a few blocks away—McDonald wanted to both preserve the charm of his 1892 abode and make an architectural gesture that would firmly plant the 115-year-old building in the 21st century. He also needed new shared office space for his construction company, McDonald Construction and Building, and oft-collaborator, designer, and architect-to-be Ian Read’s Level Four Studio. Finding an answer to McDonald’s problems would require a little heavy lifting.

"My company has done about a dozen lifts in Oakland in the last five years or so," McDonald says. He’s not talk-ing about free weights, or English elevators, but raising entire houses. "To lift a house, you slide two big steel I-beams under the length of the house, put hydraulic jacks under them, and press the ‘up’ button," he quips. Naturally it’s not quite that simple—a matrix of braces and no small amount of digging go into the process—but with an experienced house mover, it’s not as difficult as one may think. Though a vertical move was clearly in order, the house got a lateral adjustment as well. "It was a major chiropractic job," says McDonald, "the house was leaning about a foot toward the neighbor’s place."

The foundation needed replacing, and with no fireplace or exterior set of stairs to be saved, lifting made good structural and financial sense—you can see your own house on pylons for as little as $5,000. Raising the house about four feet and digging out another four feet below created space for the shared office and garage to tuck snugly beneath his Victorian.