◆ Mansion built in 1903 will be saved from demolition.
By Breanna Call
SVI Media
On Friday, April 29, a historic Montpelier home will be relocated. The house’s original location is at 506 Washington Street. This address is part of the area that the LDS church purchased and is demolishing in order to construct a temple. The home was built in 1903, and for its time, was considered to be a mansion. Most homes built in that era and location were one- or two-bedroom homes and less than 1,000 square feet. This home, on the other hand, has five bedrooms and is approximately 4,000 square feet.
Derek Rider, a Montpelier resident, didn’t want the home to be demolished, so he decided to do something about it. He says, “Once I heard these homes were getting demolished, that thought popped into my head, ‘Well maybe I could buy it back from the church.’ ‘Cause it’s too grand of a house just to . . . end up at the landfill.”
Rider decided to contact the church and see if they would be willing to sell him the home if he relocated it. He says, “I approached the church, and lo and behold, they were more than willing to talk to me and make an exception on this house. And that’s why I decided to try and save it.”
After purchasing the home, Rider had his work cut out for him. Relocating the home would not be a simple task. He had to detach a two-car garage and chimney. He also had to coordinate with Rocky Mountain Power and CenturyLink to disconnect and reconnect wiring. Businesses and homes in the area may be without power for a brief time while the home is relocated.
To relocate the home, Rider explains the process the Lemons House Moving Company will undergo: “They are in the process of taking shorter beams and sliding them through the side of the foundation that will rest on top of these two long beams, so when they jack the house up, they’re gonna lift the two long beams up, which in turn will lift all the smaller beams up directly underneath the house. Once they slide it off its foundation, then they will connect a coupling to the one end of those long beams and attach a dolly with trailer tires . . . and on the other end, they’ll connect those two beams together and that will connect to the semi-truck pulling it.”
Though the process is complicated, the move itself should be fairly quick since the home is being relocated less than a mile away to 244 11th Street. Rider says, “This has been the talk of the town for the last couple of months and everybody is just super excited to see this move.”
