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🏡 Free House Alert: Who Wants a $5 Million Nantucket Beauty?
11th December 2025 • The James Brown Commentary • James A. Brown
00:00:00 00:01:00

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Someone's giving away a five million dollar house in Nantucket, but there’s a twist – you’ve got to move it within 180 days! Yep, you heard that right. This quirky law means if you’re looking to demolish a house on the island, you first have to offer it up for free and wait a month to see if anyone wants it. And why all this fuss? Well, Nantucket’s basically a big ol' sand pile, and they’ve been moving houses around there for ages since wood is scarcer than a unicorn at a petting zoo! So, join me as we dive into the wild world of house moving season on Nantucket, where the streets might be cut in half, and the insulation is just hanging out, living its best life. Let’s get into the fun and madness of real estate where the only thing crazier than the prices is the way they handle their homes!

Takeaways:

  • Did you know that Nantucket has a unique law about demolishing houses? You have to give them away for free first!
  • Moving houses is a big deal in Nantucket, and they even call it moving season!
  • Imagine a house rolling down the street with insulation hanging out. That's Nantucket for you!
  • Nantucket's history of house moving comes from a lack of building materials, like wood, on the island.

Links referenced in this episode:

Companies mentioned in this episode:

  • Nantucket Preservation Trust
  • realtor.com

Transcripts

Speaker A:

This is the Daily Note.

Speaker A:

I'm James A.

Speaker A:

Brown.

Speaker A:

Someone is giving away a five million dollar house in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Speaker A:

But there's a catch.

Speaker A:

You gotta move it in 180 days.

Speaker A:

It's the law.

Speaker A:

If you want to demolish a house on that island, you have to offer it up for free first.

Speaker A:

Wait 30 days and see if anyone wants it.

Speaker A:

Mary Bergman of the Nantucket Preservation Trust tells realtor.com that people have been moving houses on Nantucket since they began building there.

Speaker A:

They even call it moving season.

Speaker A:

Why?

Speaker A:

Well, Nantucket is just a pile of sand and there's never been enough wood on that island to build new houses.

Speaker A:

And it saves landfill space.

Speaker A:

I can't get this picture out of my head.

Speaker A:

Houses rolling down, streets cut in half, insulation hanging out.

Speaker A:

Is Nantucket normal?

Speaker A:

So what do you think?

Speaker A:

Let me know in the comments on jamesabrown.net on that note.

Speaker A:

I'm James A.

Speaker A:

Brown and as always, be well.

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