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Two historic homes, Witchwood and the Victoria House,
are now fully restored and elevated

After Hurricane Ivan ripped through Lillian, Alabama in 2004, several families engaged Clay Fauver House Movers to elevate their homes in order to provide protection against further flooding. During this time Clay was first approached by Dr. Agnes Carter who wanted his opinion on a large, historic home that needed to be raised. The home was the first structure to be built on a one-lane pig trail on Soldiers Creek during the early 1900s. The founding family mysteriously called it the Witchwood House.

In April 2014, almost ten years after Hurricane Ivan, a life-threatening flood swamped the same area with 18 to 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. Clay Fauver soon received an offer to raise the Witchwood House, along with the small house beside it, the Victoria House. He agreed to elevate the homes by 9 feet to reduce the risk of damage caused by hurricanes and rising tides.

Despite its name, Clay learned that the Witchwood House was not haunted, but rather was named after Witchy pine, the wood used for much of the construction. They also used wood found along the bay which was called 'witchwood' by the locals. The Witchwood plaque above the front door is made of wood that washed ashore from Soldiers Creek nearly a century ago.

Today Witchwood and the Victoria House are fully restored and elevated 9 feet to reduce risks from future flooding. CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS

Below - Aerial shows spectacular setting of Witchwood.
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Below - the Victoria House
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Clay Fauver House Movers & Construction Company considered it a privilege to work with the following families in the effort to preserve the rich heritage of Witchwood and the Victoria House:

Dr. Agnes Carter, MD, husband, Cary Phillips and family
Mary & Grover Murchison
John Nelson, Bon Secour Fisheries, Inc. Family-owned-and-operated business founded in 1896.

Details:
Witchwood is 62’ wide x 93’ long / wooden front porch: 93’ long
The Victoria House is 32’ wide x 46’ long.
The homes were elevated using a new 12-Jack JSJS Unified Hydraulic Lifting Machine. CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Josh Fauver used the Gehl Telescopic Handler and Case 380 Track Loader to install the steel beams. (For Witchwood, eight 12”x12” x 60′ long cross beams and one 10”x10” x 40′ beam was used to support the side porch.)
After Witchwood was raised 5 feet, the house was supported with cribbing. After lowering the steel beams 16 inches, a triple 2”x12” stringer system was installed under both Witchwood and the Victoria House.
When constructed in the 1900s, Witchwood and the Victoria were set on brick and block piers. Now they are elevated 9 feet, supported by 10”x10” x 22′ long house pilings and 8”x8” x 24′ porch pilling. (89 pilings were used under Witchwood and 21 pilings under The Victoria House.) CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS