A house in Boise’s Central Addition takes a late-night journey, possibly for last time

Crews moved a small historic house north from Boise’s Central Addition neighborhood to a vacant lot at 15th and Jefferson streets late Monday night.

Rita Sturiale, a Boise resident, is the owner of the house that was built between 1893-99. She plans to restore the house and turn it into an antique shop and cafe.

“It’s a cute little house,” Sturiale said, “not a ton of detail, but it has tall ceilings, nice moldings around the doors and wood floors under layers of tile and vinyl.”

Central Addition has been the focus of preservation groups and developers for years. Preservationists have advocated for saving the houses that remain in that area, once one of Boise’s grand neighborhoods. Sturiale’s house is the latest and may be the final house to move. Three houses have already moved to new sites. One of the largest houses remaining in the neighborhood, the Stewart house at 420 S. 5th Street, will be demolished.

Sturiale said she’s been able to salvage some items from the Stewart house to reuse in her house, including trim, radiators and doors. She plans a complete restoration of her house. It will get a shingled roof, extended patio and extensive landscaping on the new site, she said. According to Preservation Idaho, the house was originally built for Mary F. Wood, the first librarian at the Carnegie Library built in 1905 on Washington Street. Wood grew up in Boise at the Boise Barracks, Fort Boise, where her father was a surgeon.

LocalConstruct, the developer that owned the house and other houses in the historic neighborhood, gave the houses to anyone who was willing pay to move them.

The move cost around $25,000, including around $2,000 to move power lines in preparation for it. She hopes the restoration will be complete late next spring.

OTHER HOUSES

▪  The Fowler House moved to 12th Street, just south of Fort Street in Boise’s North End.

▪  The Jones House moved to Reserve Street just north of St. Luke’s.

▪  The Beck House was partially dismantled and moved to Atlanta, Idaho.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:08 AM with the headline "A house in Boise’s Central Addition takes a late-night journey, possibly for last time."