Southeast development group is saving homes from demo and moving them to rural towns

CLATONIA, Neb. (KLKN) – A massive move from a development group is helping rural towns welcome more families.

The Southeast Nebraska Development District, or SENDD, has teamed up with the Village of Clatonia to save houses headed for demolition and physically move them to communities in need of more homes.

The ‘house lift’ project officially launched Friday when the group moved a historic home from DeWitt, Nebraska, to a plot of land in Clatonia.

The house was built in the early 1900s and is considered a family treasure by those who’ve lived in it before.

Brent Pendgraft is a housing inspector with SENDD and described to Chanel 8 the program’s greater impact.

“Of course, we all know our rural towns are shrinking,” said Pendgraft.

“We want to bring people in and keep these towns alive, where we’ll increase their housing opportunities so that they can have people move in.”

SENDD develops communities in many ways, such as building new homes, renovating homes for low-income applicants, and using grant funds to offer community services, but moving homes is a brand-new venture for them.

“This home is not alone in the fact that there are so many empty, vacant houses throughout Nebraska,” said Pendgraft.

“We created the home lift program to kind of tackle that problem, where instead of wasting these empty houses, we want to be able to place people in them.”

Pendgraft explained that it took many partners to bring the program to life.

First, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development told them about the home in DeWitt and, shortly after, connected them with the home’s owner.

Then, the Village of Clatonia connected them with the landowner, who is accepting the house for placement on their property.

Jason Siems, the owner of the historic home, tried to move it himself but says it would have cost nearly $50,000.

Despite not wanting to demolish it, he was ready to give up on efforts to preserve it.

“I actually had the fire department kind of scheduled to do some practices and tear it down,” said Siems. “I just hate tearing down good things, so that would have been a little hard to see it burn.”

The fire department’s demolition had to be rescheduled, and, coincidentally, SENDD contacted him that same night.

Enter Tim Tieken, owner of Tieken House Moving, who’s been moving homes since he was 16.

“We loaded this house and got it ready in two days,” said Tieken.

He and his employee, Hunter, loaded the home onto beams, lifted it with a jack, and coordinated with the Norris Public Power District, Windstream, and Zito Media to ensure cables were moved so the home could make its way through town.

A 3-mile route turned into 12 miles thanks to highway strategy.

“I picked the route,” said Tieken. “The county approves it.”

Once the home was dropped off at its final destination, everyone agreed the day was a success.

“It’s almost indescribable,” said Pendgraft. “It’s the culmination of months of hard work among many different parties and you get a sense of township; you get a sense of community.”

Over the next few weeks, the foundation for the home will be dug out in full, and the house will be taken off the beams and set on the foundation.

The journey on Friday took nearly 5 hours to reach its final stop in the middle of a Clatonia cornfield.

Pendgraft confirmed that the next family to move in will be doing so at an affordable price.