Historic house move delayed

The "White House" move has been delayed.

The 115-year-old building on the grounds of the Village at Orchard Ridge was to be moved across Lake Coeur d'Alene to Casco Bay this morning, but because of challenges with cable and telephone lines, the move has been moved to sometime within the next seven days or so.

"It is a complex thing," project manager Rob Johnson said Tuesday afternoon. "We were trying to hit a day in a window."

He said it's not a huge deal that the move has been postponed; the window he and project partners were aiming for began today, so they are still within their expected timeframe.

"With anything you do of this magnitude, you always run into hiccups," he said. "There are a million moving pieces with this."

The "White House" will be moved to the family property of businessman John Swallow, a longtime Coeur d'Alene resident with a passion for preserving North Idaho's history. Orchard Ridge board members decided to donate the house to Swallow rather than demolish it when they discussed what to do with the old building.

"I can't say enough how excited we are to do this," Swallow said. "The fact that Ann (Johnson, executive director) and the folks at Orchard Ridge waited for me to come along is just super cool."