Proyecto Preservacion

R2
Nomad Dwellings
ARAC 101- Spring 2010 25 enero 2010

Property, House Moving and Urban Growth in Ponce, Puerto Rico 1864-1963 Alejandro Santiago Villoch

In 1963, Isabel Villoch Rivera, being only ten years old, followed her home as it moved. Looking at the house from the backseat of a car trailing behind, the little girl could distinguish her parents riding inside the one-story woodenstructure in which she had not been allowed to travel. At such an early age, Isabel could not comprehend neither safety concerns nor the fact that her house was being relocated. Formerly next to the shore in the Amalia Marín sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico, the dwelling was to find its new abode in Barrio “La Guanchita”, not too far away. The Villoch family was the first to re-settle in this newneighborhood. Isabel Villoch Rivera, now in her forties, is my mother.

The Villoch family’s relocation reflected what was considered common practice at the time. House moving or "traslados de casas" had become a recurrent phenomenon in the city of Ponce since the mid 19th century.1 The first documented relocation of a

home in Puerto Rico's second largest city dates back to 1865 when the cost ofmoving a house could reach the sum of eight (8) pesos.2 Since then, and over a period of one hundred years, the practice became a habit. Unlike at other urban centers of Puerto

1 An important agricultural center, Ponce attracted diverse groups of immigrants, which spurred a growing economy. Significant demographic growth propitiated successive urban transformations. The process is described,among others, in Francisco Scarano, Haciendas y Barracones: Azucar y Esclavitud en Ponce, Puerto Rico 1800-1850, Rio Piedras P.R.,: Huracan., 1992; Jorge Rigau, Puerto Rico 1900, Turn of the Century Architecture in the Hispanic Caribbean 1890-1930. New York: Rizzoli, 1992. 2 Archivo Historico de Ponce (AHP) Caja 173 folio #4 caso 412 The document pertains to a legal document in which the unpaid costof moving a home was set at eight (8) pesos No specific data on the technical aspect of moving is recorded here.

1

Rico, in Ponce, specific circumstances made the relocation of homes a persistent necessity3

The transportation of built property has played a consequential role in the urban development of Ponce. Key catalysts for said process must be underlined: street realignment in the19th century; fire codes in the early 20th century; land & property ownership conflicts in subsequent decades, and finally, aggressive government intervention between 1940 and 1960. The multiple facts and forces, which contributed to house relocations in Ponce, raise myriad questions: To which extent did impermanence in building characterize, but also facilitate urban development in Ponce? How areconcepts of land and structure as separate properties embodied in the traslados de casas? In what ways did home-relocation foster ad-hoc prototypes and mobile construction technologies? Why is this a concern of pertinence today?

Home moving in Puerto Rico has been a lost tradition with the last known move made in the 1960’s. Around the world it has become an even stronger tradition and is stillbeing done today. Throughout the years, every type of structure from theatres to lighthouses and from light wood structures to massive stone edifices have all been transported. Homes have even
Image # 1 The Tarragona Arch, Daytona beach, Florida Image found at www.buildingmovers.com

3

Some isolated examples have been documented around the island for example in Santurce and Bayamon.

2been transported across water. (See illustrations #
1-4)

This type of service is still an important and

lucrative business with a worldwide affiliation called the International Movers of this Association of “The in
Image # 2 Home being moved by sea Massachusetts www.buildingmovers.com

Structural members

(www.iasm.org). organization

based

Elbridge, N.Y., moved over 10,000...