FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A Fernandina Beach house literally moved from South Fletcher Avenue to North 13th Street Sunday morning. It was quite the sight to see as several people filmed the house on the bed of large trucks rolling down several city streets.
Marc and Pat Gruber have owned the house affectionately known around town as “The Fish House” for 10 years.
“It is a little emotional,” Marc said as he watched the house being moved to its new location. “We really loved the house and lived in it.”
“It is just a wonderful little house,” Pat said. “It still has the heart pine floors. It still has the tongue and groove walls. There is no drywall in the house. It is a little wooden beach house.”
It is a small beach house that is being preserved and has a rich history. Lyn Deroy’s great-uncle and great-aunt built the house in 1937 and it remained in the family’s possession until the 1960s. Deroy says it was one of the only houses along the beach until the late 1940s.
Family members used to vacation there just like Deroy did as a child.
“I came as a little girl, many, many summers with my cousins,” Deroy said. “We just had more fun. We could sweep the sand out of the front door into the sand dunes and walk to the beach. It was built of solid pine on cypress pilings. Of course, there was no air conditioning. There were holes in the front porch to allow the water to flow out if the ocean ever breached the sand dunes.”
The Grubers and Deroy did not know each other until recently when Deroy noticed construction around the house leading up to Sunday’s move. She thought it was being torn down. Thanks to a neighbor, the couple and Deroy formed a relationship because of the small house.
“We are just delighted that the house is still here and loved by people today,” Deroy said.
Although the Grubers just want something a little bigger, they are honoring the legacy of the old house and keeping it intact.
“We have a tie [to each other],” Pat said. “Going forward, we will see each other and continue a relationship.”
“I think it is wonderful,” Deroy said. “It is a little piece of history. History of Fernandina Beach, Florida.”
The Grubers are planning to have a new house built on the old property on South Fletcher Avenue. They expect that to be completed in a little more than a year.