On the Move: Kinzler House Isn’t Letting Age Slow it Down

When some people move, they pack up their things and load up the moving van, but this Fargo family is taking the whole house with them.
 
The City of Fargo bought out the Kinzler property for flood diversion efforts, and now it’s helping move the 121-year-old, three-story house to a different lot.
 
The house weighs 135 tons.

With this being much bigger than your average oversize load, it was no simple task moving this home two miles across town in under three hours.
 
“You know, it’s kind of bittersweet,” homeowner Don Kinzler says.
 
It’s a journey few homes get to make, because most homes don’t really take a journey.
 
“We’re happy, we’re sad at the same time, but many people in Fargo have had to relocate because of the flood,” Kinzler says.
 
The Kinzler family says this house has 120 years of history, and despite flood diversion efforts, that history is being preserved.
 
“Takes quite a while, about a month and a half we’ve been in the planning, trying to figure out how the logistics of the width of the house, the height of the house, getting all the power companies, the sign companies. It’s pretty awe inspiring,” Fargo Truck Regulatory Officer Matt Moon says.
 
Street lights and signs were temporarily taken down and power lines lifted up for this 42 foot-wide by 46 foot-tall goliath.

With roads closed off, drivers and neighbors stopped to take pictures, watching this historic treasure float by.
 
“I’ve never seen a three story house move before and I think it’s the coolest thing ever, I’m so glad I get to see it today. This is super random,” Fargo teacher Mary Cross says.
 
The family says this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

Twenty-five years ago, they moved this house all the way from Fergus Falls.
 
“I was three when that happened,” Don’s daughter Sarah Magelky says.
 
And now, she gets to be a part of it once again, meticulously hauling history and personal memories.
 
“It’s nerve racking. But they’re very good movers. We trust them, and they’re the same movers that did it 25 years ago. Lot of memories in the house, it’s hard to leave the lot, but you take the house, you take the family with you,” Magelky says.
 
And without a scratch, dent or buff, the Kinzler house safely makes it to its next home.
 
“We’re so happy, it feels like we’re home, and the house is home now.
It looks like it traveled beautifully,” Don Kinsler says.
 
The family says they’re living in a motel right now, and hope to move back into their house sometime this fall.