MUSCATINE, Iowa — One day next spring a piece of Muscatine’s history will find a new home.

Along the way, a whole new chapter will be added to the story of the 110-year-old Henry Jayne house. It may even star in a reality television show.

Muscatine resident Brian Costas bought the house from the Muscatine Art Center for $1,001 on Oct. 1. Next May, with the help of Jeremy Patterson House Moving of Washington, Iowa, he plans to move the home to 1200 Iowa Ave. — a feat easier said than done.

Because the Muscatine Art Center wants to save the two trees in front of the home at 1402 Mulberry Ave. the movers will come in through the backyard and move the house across the Art Center parking lot to Cedar Street.

“It’s a major undertaking because of where it’s located,” Jeremy Patterson said.

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most difficult, he rates this move as a seven or eight.

“Fifteen years ago it would have been a nightmare to move,” he said. “Nowadays, with the technology, it’ll be a lot easier.”

Patterson estimates the house weighs 80 to 90 tons. A fully loaded tractor-trailer truck weighs about  40 tons.

Making the move

The move will take three to five days. Before Patterson’s crew arrives, Costas has to disconnect everything in the basement from the floor joists down.

Once the workers arrive at the site, they’ll knock holes in the foundation and run two steel H beams from the front of the house to the rear. Each beam is so large it weighs 145 pounds per foot.

Next, the team will install smaller crossbeams, which weigh 31 pounds per foot.

Then, the crew will build cribs in the basement to support its 12-jack unified jacking machine. The machine regulates the pressure on each jack, so the house lifts uniformly and does not sustain any damage.

“We can really make the house dance,” Patterson said.

Once the house is lifted off the foundation, Patterson’s crew will place wheels under it, hook it up to a semi truck and start down the back of the lot.

When the home reaches Cedar Street, Muscatine Power and Water crews will get involved.

“During the move of the house, all of our crews will be in front of and behind the house,” said Nick Nietzel, engineering technician for MP&W. “Almost every vehicle we have will be out.”

The home is so tall it will not fit under the power lines, so crews will be cutting them in front of the home and then reattaching them once the house passes.

MP&W will also have to take down one of its primary service lines at the intersection of Fulliam Avenue and Cedar Street.

“Most of what we’ll be doing will affect individual customers for a very short period of time,” Nietzel said.

In addition, MP&W crews will have to remove the guy wires that keep the poles standing and will have to use trucks to keep the poles upright as the Jayne house passes.

Once the house reaches Costas’ lot, Patterson’s men will pull it into place and jack it up on cribbing until Costas can have a foundation built underneath it.

Jeremy Patterson House Moving transports 400-500 structures per year. In addition to its Washington office, it has locations in New Orleans and South Carolina.

A new TV star?

One of Patterson’s recent moves, a 440-ton brick mansion outside of Tipton, is the focus of a reality television show, “Heavy Haulers,” which will premier at 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, on TLC.

Patterson said he would like to use the Jayne house for an edition of “Heavy Haulers.”

“It has all the characteristics we’re looking for,” he said. “It’s a beautiful home. It’s historic.”

Patterson’s role in moving the house will cost Costas $16,000. MP&W will charge him $7,500 to move power and communication lines out of the way.

The ultimate in recycling

The Muscatine Historic Preservation Commission sees the move as a way to preserve one of Muscatine’s architectural treasures and is thrilled Costas wants to save the home. The Commission has pledged to try to help Costas get the house listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It’s architecturally quite unique,” said Daniel Clark, chairman of the Commission. “There’s really nothing like it in Muscatine.“

Patterson praises Costas for keeping the home out of a landfill.

“House moving is the biggest recycler in the United States,” he said. “Kudos to him because he was the only one who stepped up to the plate to do it.”

Costas is looking forward to restoring the home and writing the next chapter of its history. As the co-owner of Tico Investments, which buys Muscatine homes, fixes them up and rents them, he is no stranger to restoring homes.

In fact, he was just about finished rehabbing a home on West Eighth Street as his personal residence when the Jayne home caught his eye.

Now he is ready for a new challenge.

“I’m excited about it,” he said.