What to do if you're new to Washington, D.C. and can't find a colonial home suitable for your Americana collection? If you're George Maurice Morris in the early 1940s, you pay to move a Georgian gem from New England to a prime piece of land in your new locale.
That's how this 8,820-square-foot home came to Washington, D.C.'s perennially swanky Kalorama area. It's on the market for $10.5 million.
Unable to find an old colonial in the area, the American Bar Association president heard that the family who owned "The Lindens" — a Massachusetts summer home erected by a ship builder in 1754 — had fallen on hard financial times, and he decided to buy the home and move it down the coast.
"Only right after the Depression, when labor was so inexpensive, could you have it brought to Washington from north of Boston," said listing agent William F.X. Moody of Washington Fine Properties.
The home traveled on six railroad cars and was reassembled with only three windowpanes broken, according to co-listing agent Christopher Leary.
Most of the residence, which has been featured in Architectural Digest, is original, except for modern touches — like plumbing. All six bedrooms have ensuite baths that used to be wig-powdering rooms.
The first floor includes a living room with built-in seats and interior shutters, a dining room with wide-plank floors, a library and a kitchen with a butler's pantry. The second and third floors hold the bedrooms as well as a billiard room, family room and office. The finished basement boasts a sauna, a media room and a tavern with a fireplace.
The ship builder's touches are visible on the home's exterior, which includes a widow walk and one side that's shaped like an inverted ship.
Related: