Can a subject be proceded by a predicate

[azkad]

Hello,
Is the structure of the sentence correct? I mean, can a subject (the 2,225-mi. test from San Francisco to Honolulu) be preceded by a predicate (Foremost on the Pacific Coast)?

Foremost on the Pacific Coast was the 2,225-mi. test from San Francisco to Honolulu.

If yes, then are these sentences sound good in English?

In the house was the man I haven’t seen for ages.
To the downtown we set off at night.

Thanks

[David L.]

Foremost on the Pacific Coast was the 2,225-mi. test from San Francisco to Honolulu.
Yes - just as one might read in a sporting magazine.

If yes, then are these sentences OK?

In the house was the man I haven’t seen for ages.

This is tricky - I'm having a problem with the tense because I don't know what the tenses of the preceeding sentence(s) is/are.
You have used "the man", indicating a very particular man, apparently from your past. You would then have to construct the tense as:
In the house was the man I hadn't seen for ages.

otherwise:
In the house was a man I hadn't seen for ages
..but somehow I think you could also use "haven't" here. Not sure what the trouble is I'm having here deciding!

To the downtown we set off at night.
No.
We set off for downtown at night.
At night, we set off for downtown.

(Let me think if I can come up with a sentence with something like "going downtown" at the beginning. If I can, I'll add it on.)

[azkad]

Thank you very much David L, your answers are helpful, indeed. I do appreciate them. Thanks.

[David L.]

otherwise:
In the house was a man I hadn't seen for ages
..but somehow I think you could also use "haven't" here. Not sure what the trouble is I'm having here deciding

Got it. Suppose I am telling someone a dream I had last night, and I say,
"I was suddenly in a wood, and there was this house. I looked in through the window, and inside the house was a man I haven't seen for ages. His name is Tom and he moved away to Liverpool a couple of years ago."


I start by telling what happened in the dream, about the house, and when I mention the man, it is actually a man I know in real life, and I start talking about the man and that it's odd that he should come into the dream, because 'I haven't seen him for ages' (and perhaps hadn't thought about him for ages either.)

Feel better now that I've got that sorted in my mind.!