SWAMPSCOTT — A homeowner dropped his new house onto Bay View Drive on Tuesday.
Stephen Roberts, owner of 14 Bay View Drive, spent the day overseeing his new modular home being assembled on property he purchased last August.
Roberts and his wife of seven years, Patricia Ward, purchased the property for $275,000, according to property records.
The former home at the location was destroyed by a five-alarm fire in July 2016. The fire also destroyed the house next door.
Roberts worked with Westchester Modular Homes of Northeastern Massachusetts to design the house, which was manufactured last month at the company’s plant in Wingdale, New York, according to Joseph Enright, vice president of Westchester Modular Homes.
Enright said four modules for the house were shipped out last week — a crane was on site placing the modules.
“Everything’s going good,” Roberts said. “Everything’s coming together … Westchester Modular Homes did a great job. It’s amazing the efficiency of the process. There’s very little waste.”
The original house at 14 Bay View Drive was demolished after the fire — Roberts said stones from the foundation were repurposed to build retaining walls with them.
He had to go through a permitting process with the town for the project — the new house was kept in the same footprint as what the original house was in. He got his final approval in January and the foundation went in February, but crews took a month off in March because of the snow.
When Roberts moves into the house — he’s aiming for the end of June — it will be his fourth home on Bay View Drive. He moved to Swampscott and Bay View Drive in 2003, first living at 24 Bay View, followed by 11 and 2 Bay View Drive.
He said the ocean views are incredible on the street, and he loves the neighborhood and neighbors. Roberts and Ward were looking to downsize, as their kids are both at college.
“We’re just trying to simplify life,” Roberts said. “We didn’t have to do this. We just chose to do this.”
In the meantime, the couple is renting short-term in Salem after spending the winter in Marblehead.
Roberts, who works as a home inspector for HouseMaster Home Inspections, has worked in construction all his life. He will be renovating the interior of his new home himself. He has renovated his past homes on Bay View Drive and flipped a house in Marblehead last year.
Roberts said he was “thrilled and excited” with the house coming together and can’t wait to move in.
But he’s still got his eye on another house nearby, which is on Ocean View Road — he wants that to be his final home.
