Hoge House finally ready to move: Ground at final location still not ready for building

WINFIELD - The Hoge House has stood overlooking U.S. 35 inWinfield for 147 years.

At 9.a.m. Saturday, it will be moved just out of sight of theroad, but still in the footprints of what used to be the Hoge familyproperty decades ago.

The house was supposed to move in March, and was then rescheduledto May. But the very wet season kept the ground wet and the companyactually scheduled to do the move, Heavy-Quip House Movers Inc. ofChapmanville, was occupied with other jobs that had also beendelayed, said Mark Rooper, president of the Putnam County HistoricLandmark Commission.

Rooper expects everything to go smoothly on Saturday.

"We have confidence that everything is going to go fine," he said.

The house will not be moved to its final location behind thejudicial annex on Saturday because the ground there is still too wet,said Scott Williamson, assistant coordinator at Greater KanawhaResearch Conservation and Development and the supervisor of the move.

He said they plan to move the house into the parking lot somewhereuntil there is either a dry spell or a freeze, making the ground hardenough to put the house down.

It was Williamson and his organization that helped save the houseearlier this year by securing funds and contractors to do the work.The house had been ignored until April 2002, when insurance agentRusty Arthur bought the property where the house now sits.

"It was not a concern until they wanted to tear it down, theneveryone jumped on the bandwagon," Williamson said.

A team of five will move the house with a system of hydraulics,which will lift the house onto wheels. A rig will then pull the houseas close to its new location as possible, Williamson said.

American Electric Power also will be on hand to drop a power linefor the house to pass over. Power will be out for an hour or two inthe school board building and in three homes, all of which have beennotified, Williamson said.

Both Rooper and Williamson said the next step is to get the houseonto the National Register of Historic Places, which will allow it toreceive grants to help with maintenance costs.

The only obstacle to getting the house registered might be that itis no longer on the original site. Rooper said that it probably willwork out.

"It will still reside on the Hoge property, less than 100 yardsfrom the Hoge family cemetery," he said.

The Rev. James Hoge, who currently lives in Florida, has agreed todonate the original furniture, which dates back to the 1850s. Hoge isthe great-great-great grandson of James W. Hoge, Putnam County'sfirst lawyer who built the house in 1856.

The front part of the house will display the family artifacts andpossibly some old bottles and containers found when the site wasexcavated, Williamson said.

Ultimately, they would like to rebuild the back part of the house,the remnants of which were torn down several weeks ago due to termitedamage. The section, called an "ell," could be turned into a displayof Putnam County history or a meeting space, Rooper said.

Writer Megan Kenny can be reached at 348-4850 or by e-mail atmegan@dailymail.com.