In ‘win for the neighborhood,’ historic home to be moved, renovated

Soon, a 130-year-old house will have a new address, a new interior and a shiny-new painted exterior.

This house’s past and future are unclear. Nothing is known about who first resided at 435 N. Spring Ave. Contractor Dan Kurtz doesn’t know yet who will live at 215 N. Spring Ave. after he has moved the house to its new location and restored it inside and out.

It’s the present that’s important now. Kurtz, the owner of Bighorn Craftsmen, knows that whoever buys it will get a house that was lovingly restored to its former glory. Plus, the new owners will have the Kurtz family as neighbors. His own house, which Kurtz is restoring while they live in it, faces Duluth Avenue and the backyard touches the vacant lot at 215 N. Spring.

“Our lots will share an alley,” Kurtz said. “That’s part of the intrigue for me to do this project. And it does make it really convenient for managing the project and keeping tabs on it.”

Kurtz started flipping and remodeling houses 20 years ago, then became involved in custom homebuilding. “Now, we’re going back into doing more of the remodel and renovation,” he said.

The historic house on North Spring is the oldest project Kurtz has tackled. Before work began, he had to appear before the Sioux Falls Board of Historic Preservation to obtain its approval. Sioux Falls has five historical residential districts; the board must approve plans such as moving houses or tearing them down.

“This property, this house has been vacant for a number of years,” said Diane deKoeyer, neighborhood and preservation planner for the city. “This is a great project. It makes available a home for someone to purchase, and it restores a house in the historic district that had been neglected by a previous owner.”

In fact, at one time the Preservation Board was asked for permission to tear down the house, but it was not granted. It stood empty, the only house on the property between the Volunteers of America building and Fourth Street.

In the meantime, VOA acquired the property in April. The VOA board is going through a due diligence process to determine what might be the best uses for the land it owns, said John Hart, VOA managing director. Whatever is decided, an old house would not be part of it.

“We were hoping to find someone who had an idea how to renovate it,” Hart said. “Dan was the guy. This will be a win for the neighborhood.”

The Board of Historic Preservation thought so too, deKoeyer said. The Historic Cathedral District continues to see revitalization efforts with several projects in recent years.

“A lot of people are interested … in these beautiful old homes that just need some work,” deKoeyer said. “The city is trying to encourage property owners — if you’re just sitting on a piece of property that’s not being used, we do have a housing shortage, and this is a good neighborhood to be in.”

Kurtz has found that out for himself. While he has an affinity for older houses — the first one he ever owned was built in 1948 — he never expected to live in the Historic Cathedral District. When the opportunity to buy his current house came up, however, it just felt right.

Cathedral was the first neighborhood to be declared a historic district when Sioux Falls established the program 49 years ago. Not as much information was gathered in the early years, deKoeyer said, so little is known about the house even though it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. What is known is that it was built in either 1887 or 1891 and it’s Queen Anne cottage style.

The lot behind his house has been vacant since Kurtz moved in; the original dwelling was destroyed by fire several years ago. He decided to purchase that lot and move the 435 N. Spring house south two blocks if he could make all the pieces come together.

“I feel like there’s so much potential in the neighborhood. It’s so close to downtown, and with all the investment going on in the downtown area, there’s such a real boom there,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity there. To me, it’s not a big grand house, but it’s a nice little house that’s just sitting there vacant. In the spirit of trying to bring the district as a whole back, that’s just one step.”

Kurtz plans to put a full basement beneath the house with the potential of two bedrooms on that level. The half-story upstairs does not have much space. While it currently has two small bedrooms, he is considering turning it into a master suite. At a minimum, Kurtz said, it will have three bedrooms and probably two-and-a-half baths or perhaps a full bath on the main floor.

Not much of the original woodwork remains, although the banister and balusters appear genuine. Part of the house has original wooden floors.

“We want to bring some modern features to the house in terms of doors and millwork, but I want to bring it back to the style and feel of the original,” Kurtz said.

One other house remains on the newly purchased VOA property. It is a “noncontributing” structure in the historic district; when the VOA asks permission to tear it down later this summer, the board will grant it, deKoeyer said.

Kurtz now will obtain the necessary city permits for his project. He hopes to have the 435 N. Spring Ave. house perched on its new basement at 215 N. Spring Ave. by early fall, then spend six to eight months renovating it. He expects it to go on the market by early next summer.

This is the oldest house Kurtz has renovated and the first house he has moved too.

“It’s all sorts of fun,” he said.

Beautifully restored, historic Cathedral neighborhood mansion opens for guests