A house that was determined to be standing in the way of progress will shelter a new family in a new location, away from the proposed enhancement of U.S. 54.
Within a few years of building their new home west of Pratt in 2000, Bo and Dedra Brant learned it stood squarely in the path of the highway project. The short story is that they settled with the Kansas Department of Transportation, bought the house back and sold it to Jonathan and Melinda Flora, who arranged for it to be loaded up and hauled to their land near Sawyer. The move was accomplished on Wednesday.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride,” Dedra Brant said. “You go through a lot of emotions.”
First they were devastated that “they can say we’re taking this and you really don’t have anything to say about it.” Then they entered into a fight mode, to try to keep it from happening. Realizing they wouldn’t win the battle, they next looked at making sure they were adequately compensated for their loss.
“We’ve crossed that barrier, we’ve moved on,” Brant said, although she admitted to some sentimentality as she saw the house on dollies ready to travel Wednesday morning.
The Brants have built a new home a couple of miles north of their original site, which contributes to their sense of peace. Knowing the first house won’t be destroyed and someone else will enjoy it “helped get us over the edge,” she said.
Moving a house is no small undertaking, nor is it inexpensive. The Floras considered building on 50 acres west of Sawyer, but decided to move a house instead, when they learned from a friend that this one could be purchased. Jonathan thinks they will save money in the long run.
“I sure wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t,” he commented.
They hired Ball and Son Movers of Belleville, because they’re one of the biggest movers in the state and have experience with jobs on this scale. The house, with its garage taken off and moved separately, is L-shaped, measuring 65 feet on the long side and 54 feet on the short side. Sitting a little crooked on the dolly, it presented a 50-foot face to the roadway.
Flora has put a lot of work into getting to that point. He first hoped the house could be moved with the bricks intact, but in December learned he would have to take them off. Besides getting the house ready to move, he also prepared its route. He spent a day and half trimming trees along the right-of-way and was part of a crew to remove and replace road signs on moving day.
The house traveled west on what is known as Old 54 to the blacktopped Coats Road, then south to Coats and east on another county blacktop to its new location. The 15-mile trip took more than eight hours, including stops while utility crews moved power lines out of the way. Family members accompanied the house on its journey and a sizeable welcoming party was on hand at the end of the day.
Flora will do much of the work himself to get it ready for occupancy. He expected nothing more than some minor stress cracks in the wallboard to repair before repainting the interior. He will probably hire a crew to apply vinyl siding, a more economical choice than the bricks he removed.
He had originally hoped to have the house moved by Thanksgiving, and is still hoping to move in by spring, but said, “we’re running a ways behind.”
Thursday morning the two parts of their new home stood, still on dollies, next to the foundation that has been prepared, all with a light coating of snow. Roller beams will ease the structures into place, where they will be rejoined and secured to the foundation with metal straps.
Pratt, Kan. —
