Sanders Beach Community Association

Sanchez/Jones House Ready To Move!

Aug 16, 2005

Although by Tuesday August 8, 2005 there has been no building movement, there has been a flurry of activity, begun on Friday, August 5, 2005, and it will only be a matter of days before the Sanchez/Jones house will have been moved to its new site at Sonia and ?“H?” Street. Several steel I beam supports have been laid out under the house oriented east-west. Big sets of moving tires sit onsite, ready to be attached at the proper moment.

The new owners (and our new neighbors) are Blake and Laura Joccam. They presently live in North Hill, where they have restored an older home over the last few years. They plan to work to restore the Sanchez/Jones house to its former glory and then some.

Neighborhood legend has it that the house originally sat closer to the water than it presently does at the corner of Cypress and ?“H?” Street, but was moved sometime around 1920. The story continues that the house was moved using huge logs and teams of oxen. The reason for the move is not clear but another story has it that the lady of the house at the time had become very unnerved by the hurricanes of 1906 and 1916 and wanted the house farther away from the water. There is some mention of a Duvall Lumber Company connection to the first owner. If anyone has historic information about the house, its previous location and owners, or anything else that might be of interest, please share it with Nancy so she can add it to the history of Sanders Beach she is presently researching, and as well, share it with the Joccams. For example, we understand the marble patio outside to be marble from the San Carlos Hotel.