It took two weeks of preparation and two days to move, but by the end of the day Sunday, a 4,000-square-foot brick home that once served as the official residence of Elon’s president will have moved nearly half a mile, over railroad tracks, to its new home on South Campus.
Relocating the Holland House next to Holt Chapel makes room on Haggard Avenue for a plaza to be constructed at the front of the Academic Village. Crews had been working for weeks to lift the house from its original foundation.
On June 13, the actual move began, with workers inching the mansion east on Haggard, then south on Antioch Avenue, to a staging area where it sat overnight. The next morning, the same teams started again, carefully navigating the house past utility poles and trees that lined the road.
“If you were pushing a baby stroller, you’d beat them there,” said Neil Bromilow, director of construction management at Elon University. “It’s very, very slow. The main reason is … you can stop it in time if there are any problems at all.”
Workers waited for an eastbound Amtrak train to clear the area before placing timbers across the tracks to permit the building to cross. Dozens of spectators visited campus to watch the move take place, applauding once the house – perched on steel beams seven feet in the air – completed its journey over the rails onto South Campus.
Holland House served as the formal residence of Elon’s president from 1963 to 1990 before the official residency was moved to its current location near the Alamance Country Club.
The building later served as the home for the alumni and parent offices, as well as the development office and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. It most recently provided space for the Department of Leisure and Sport Management, the Periclean Scholars program, and for staff in the admissions office.
University leaders are studying possible future uses for the building. Because of its proximity on South Campus to Holt Chapel, campus recreation facilities and the alumni office, the building could eventually serve as a complement to one of those three areas.
Bromilow noted that in addition to preserving the building (a large banner reading “Elon University Recycles” hung from the second story of the house), moving the structure is cost effective. The university saved money, he said, by relocating the mansion rather than tearing it down and rebuilding a similar facility from scratch.
Holland House, named for former trustee Shirley T. Holland, served as home for two Elon presidents – J. Earl Danieley (1957-1973) and J. Fred Young (1973-1998).
“I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, I have memories of living in the house,” Danieley said as he reflected on the move. “But on the other, I’m so happy that the university is keeping the building. It will be located in a nice place. It will be put back in good order. It will be used for another generation.
“To me, that’s wonderful,” he said. “It would have been easy for somebody who had no connection (the Elon) to bring a bulldozer in here, and I would not have liked that … I’m glad they’re saving it. It’s a good thing.”
