MIDLOTHIAN, Texas -- Stephen Hidlebaugh, a Midlothian developer, is on an ambitious mission to save very large antique homes that are a part of North Texas history.
"They're definitely unique, each one is different, and it's so much easier to bulldoze them, then it is to move them and restore them," Hidlebaugh said.
Hidlebaugh is talking about the Hosford Homeplace. It was once home to the area's founding family, and he's on a mission to save it. The house will soon be moved to a new home in downtown Midlothian as part of a unique project dubbed Founders Row.
"This staircase --this is what you don't have in modern houses, all the craftsmanship and the wood it took to build this. This is part of the house that we really did fall in love with right here," Hidlebaugh said.
WFAA was there two months ago as construction crews carefully sliced and diced the home into manageable pieces and carefully moved them 11 miles to Midlothian.
On Monday, they're putting the pieces back together.
"We can start drawing the house in, so that we know that the envelope is secure and so that all the history in the house is secure and dry," Hidlebaugh said.
Move a house in Midlothian and you'll draw a crowd. In that crowd, WFAA found Hans Albert Streich, originally from Switzerland.
"We love that house because we lived 24 years in that building. We know the Hosford family, and we love that house," Streich said.
Hans and his wife stood in front of that very home decades ago -- they kept the house on life support -- they couldn't be happier to see Hidlebaugh and his team bring it back to life.
"It is a part of history, and if it has a history behind it, it shouldn't be destroyed. It should be worshiped," Streich said.