Highlights Archives

Smith House Gets A Pick Me Up: Moving a 132-Year Old Historic Home


smith045.jpg
Workers position timbers in
advance of 6-wheeled trucks,
each supporting 65 tons
History got a lift Monday, February 23, when the Adam and Mary Smith House on Highway 151 just south of Sun Prairie was relocated to a site in the new Smith's Crossing community. The Wisconsin Historical Society, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, worked out a solution to avoid the demolition of this historic residence due to planned expansion of Highway 151. Federal preservation laws, administered by the Society's Division of Historic Preservation, require those receiving federal funds to attempt to avoid or minimize harm to historic properties. Highway planners consulted with historic preservation staff to work out a plan to market the Smith House, which was purchased by Madison homebuilder Veridian Homes. "This successful project is a result of the shared vision of preservationists, planners, developers, architects and contractors," said Jim Draeger chief of the Society’s Office of Historic Buildings.

Moving the 782,000-pound house involved months of planning. Workers from Childs Contract Movers of Boscobel inched the massive building up off its foundation to minimize harm to the load-bearing brick walls and decorative interior plasterwork. The solid masonry walls required exterior reinforcement with steel cables before massive steel I-beams were inserted under the house to support its weight on a series of eight-wheeled hydraulic trucks. After lifting the house, contractors demolished the foundation to allow the removal of the house.

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Massive steel I-beams support
the weight of the 782,000 pound
house as it inches its way across
the fields
The house was inched sideways out of the foundation hole before being towed backwards out of its 130-year-old location to spare a majestic mature oak at the rear of the property. The home slowly crept along the muddy frozen ground to its new home in the Smith's Crossing village square. "The Adam Smith home is the anchor for Smith’s Crossing. It not only the new community's namesake, but its history fits perfectly with the traditional principles on which Smith’s Crossing was founded. That’s why the home will be properly restored to its original beauty in one of the neighborhood's central locations," said David Simon, President of Operations for Veridian Homes.

Veridian will continue to work with Wisconsin Historical Society staff as they utilize the Historic Preservation Tax Credits in the rehabilitation of this building. History will be a perfect fit in this neo-traditional neighborhood, planned on principles of pedestrian design, diverse architecture, and mixed residential and commercial uses.

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Smith House reaches hard pavement
on the last leg of its trip to its new
site in Smith's Crossing
When the Smith House rehabilitation is completed in 2005, its ornamental wooden porch will welcome the community into a beautifully restored interior intended to house a restaurant or cooking school. The Smith House demonstrates how the preservation of our past can be a successful element of smart growth, bringing continuity and a greater sense of character to new communities.

Want to learn more about the history of the Smith House?

:: Posted February 25, 2004
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