Home Buying

This house is free. But there’s a catch.

The new owner has to move the 200-year-old home from its Rye, N.H., location.

Alex Herlihy, town historian in Rye, N.H., holds up a "FREE HOUSE" sign in front of the Colonial that needs a buyer willing to move it. Bob McGrath

By Madeline Bilis

February 16, 2024

1 minute to read

Plenty of New Englanders dream of owning a historic house. But like with everything these days, the cost can be quite high. For those priced out of antique homeownership, there’s a new opportunity: You can have a 1820s home in coastal New Hampshire — for free.

There’s a catch, naturally.

The nearly 200-year-old Colonial in Rye sits on land that its new owner plans to develop. But instead of demolishing the place to build a new home immediately, he’s offering the historic home for free to anyone who can move it to a different location.

Moving a home can cost anywhere between $15,000 and $200,000, according to Realtor.com. The price varies on how far the house is being transported and whether the route has many obstructions, among other factors.

“It’s much more feasible to dismantle it, move it, then put it back together,” said Rye’s town historian, Alex Herlihy, who’s hoping to help find a “buyer.”

Herlihy moved his own home, a post-and-beam house in Hampton, N.H., to its current spot in Rye in 1975. “I got the house for very little money,” he said. “For $6,000, I found a guy who understood post-and-beam construction; he had dismantled barns before. He and a crew and I worked, dismantled the house, moved the pieces, and stored them on my land.”

free-rye-nh-house-fireplace — . – Bob McGrath

Like his own home, the Rye house’s post-and-beam construction makes it easy to disassemble and reassemble. “If they’re not willing to do that, they shouldn’t be interested in this historic house,” Herlihy said.

Built by the Locke family, one of the founding families of Rye, the home counts wide-pine floors, wrought-iron hardware, and a winding staircase among its time-honored features.

free-rye-nh-house-stairs — . – Bob McGrath

A recent Facebook post shows Herlihy posting outside the home with a “FREE HOUSE” sign in hand. It amassed hundreds of comments and likes in less than 24 hours. The hope, Herlihy said, is that the increased attention helps find the right buyer.