Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 1/11/2007

Question
My parents have recently decided to rebuild on the same place that our current house is. Instead of just tearing our house down, I think it would be better to donate it or something. we live outside of a small town in Illinois, and the cost to move the house is pretty expensive. do you know any companies, or people that we could donate it to or would come get it for free? I just really do not want to see my home for the last 22 years to be demolished. It is a very old house, but with some work,it could be beautiful!

Answer
Hi Kate - thanks for your question!

I've never heard of donating an entire house intact, but you might start with Habitat For Humanity or your local St. Vincent De Paul society.

What's more likely is that both of those organizations will "strip" the house of useful components.  We've used Habitat several time to take out cabinets, windows, appliances, and lots of other building materials that they can resell in their retail stores.  Then at least parts of your house go to a good cause!

A whole house is just too expensive to move and reuse - it needs a new foundation, and the existing house would likely need significant code upgrades.  It's cheaper and easier in the long run to build a new house.

But there is a way to help your local community with this house, and that's by donating it to the fire department for a training burn.  Firefighters very rarely get a chance to train in actual homes; they usually only get to train in the State Fire Department facilities, which are only marginally realistic.  In a training burn they'll get the chance to get some very useful experience.  And the more experience firefighters have, the better I feel about them!  A training burn is also great fun to watch, and makes a great neighborhood event.

We've done this with several homes and it's something the whole community benefits from.  Your parents may also be eligible for a tax break.

Call the local Fire Chief and ask about it - usually, they can lead you through all the steps you need to take to get it approved and done.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com