Free house moved from UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Crews moved an entire house Sunday morning to make room for a new outpatient center at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.

"Well you don't see this every day, that's for sure. We were all hoping that it was going to work and it did," UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland spokesperson Melinda Krigel said.

The hospital's little white house was carefully moved off the grounds of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. Unlike the Pixar movie "Up" there were no balloons to lift it. A flatbed truck did the trick instead.

For the past 13 years after the owner died, the little white house served as offices for the hospital, but now a new outpatient center will be built there. Officials did not want to tear down the 1934 structure and began to search for someone who could take the house for free as long as they could afford to relocate it. To help with the moving expenses, the hospital chipped in $20,000.

"It's very nice to maintain part of Oakland and it's totally in character with the neighborhood," new owner Kathleen Stone said.

The tiny house only moved about a block away, but what a quite a journey as it inched down Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 52nd street.

Neighbors looked on as everything went well. The new owners and hospital are pleased. "We are thrilled our little white house has a new home," Krigel said.