By Tara de Ryk DAVIDSON-A local landmark will soon be on the move. The Geiger house, a large, white two-storey home on the Meridian five-and-a-half miles south of Davidson, will have a new home near Elbow. That the house will have a second life pleases its former owner, Alma Bennett (née Geiger), whose grandparents built the house back in 1914. "I'm glad to see it's going that way instead of the fire department coming out and having a practice," Alma says when she heard the house will be moved. "It's good to see someone using it and restoring it as best they can." Alma grew up in the house that was built by her grandparents John and Anna Geiger in 1914. John and Anna and their family came to the Davidson area in 1913 where John the year previously had bought section 1-26-1-W3. The family of seven lived in a small, uninsulated one-room house for over a year until a contractor was hired to build a large house. Alma says the sand that was removed to dig the basement was used in the plaster for the walls and ceilings throughout the house. Soon after the house was built, a second-storey addition was built above the kitchen. A porch and second storey verandah completed the house by 1918. It was quite the show place. Alma has many fond memories of her family home. She was two years old when her parents, Arnim and Clara, after her grandfather's death, moved back to the farm in 1934. "I was brought up there," Alma says and she enjoyed her life on the farm. She has a love for animals and says she was out in the barn every chance she could, helping her dad with the livestock. In its early days the house had no central heat. A stove in the kitchen supplied heat to the house. In 1953 Alma married Floyd Bennett of Davidson and they moved to Kindersley where Floyd worked as a mechanic. In 1958 they moved back to Davidson and worked with her parents on the Geiger farm. "We lived with my parents for about a year in the big house, but we knew we'd have to get another place," Alma says. They looked into moving an old house into the farmyard, but couldn't find a suitable house, so they built a new home. For the first few years it was a four-room house and then they built two more rooms on as their family grew. Floyd and Alma continued to farm the Geiger homestead, carrying on the mixed farming tradition of her parents and grandparents. They had three children Dale, Terry and Annette and continued living in the smaller house in the yard while Alma's parents lived in the large house. In 1973 Arnim and Clara moved into Davidson. Alma says she and Floyd rented out the large house for a few years, but never moved their family in. "Floyd worked with my dad a number of years and then the farm slowly turned over to our son Dale," Alma says. Floyd and Alma moved into Davidson in 1995 and retired from farming in 1999. Their son Dale took over the family farm until it was sold. Over the years Alma says they had various people come look at the house, interested in moving it, but they never did due to the expense. She points out that most of the house's plaster walls are still in good shape, this despite the fact that the house has stood vacant since 1976. The tornado that came through the area that summer tore shingles off the roof and the house hasn't been lived in since. Arlen and Barb Manske now own the original Geiger yardsite, living in the house built for Floyd and Alma. The big house still stands in the yard, but not for long. This is where Beth Novak-Feist and her husband Ivan Feist come in. Three years ago they bought a farm site off the Elbow-Girvin grid about 15 kilometres east of Elbow that had belonged to Louise and John Williams in the R.M. of Willner. Beth and Ivan, who live in Calgary, have spent the past three years restoring the farm's house for their future home. Beth says her husband is a chef and their dream is when they retire from their jobs in the city, to operate a bed and breakfast and a small dining room. Beth says she wants to be able to walk to work. But first, they set about restoring the old house on their farm. Every-other weekend they drive to Elbow to work on the place. "So many of our friends from Calgary, they first thought, 'Why do you want to move to Saskatchewan?' but it only takes one trip out to the farm for them to realize it's really an amazing place. What I love most is the sky. You can see in every direction," Beth says. They have gutted the place and in the process, met Davidson electrician Alton Downie who got wind of Beth's dream of operating a bed and breakfast and told them about the old, vacant Geiger house. Beth says Alton suggested they go look at the place. "It's not in my comfort zone to go into someone's yard and say, 'Do you want to sell your house?'" Beth recalls. However, with some coaxing, Beth decided to take a look. Arlen recalls he was out back working when two ladies showed up, asking to look at the house, so he let them. "The bones are great and all the original baseboards and woodwork is still there..." Beth said. It was love at first sight. "I said, 'I'll give you a real good deal if you take it,'" Arlen says. He and Barb are giving the house to Beth and Ivan. "This makes me feel better," Arlen says of seeing the house restored rather than go to waste. Beth says she had hoped the house would have been moved in the fall, but couldn't get a foundation built then, so she's hoping the house will be moved this spring or early summer. She says the contractor has promised her that she's first on his list. Although it may be tricky, Beth says the building mover has assured her it can be moved and she's already contacted SaskPower about raising power lines. Once the house is moved to its new home, Beth and Ivan will begin the restoration. Beth says she's set a five-year timeline. "They keep telling me they aren't afraid of work," Arlen laughs knowing that when the house arrives, although still solid, will need a lot of attention if it is to resemble the home it once was back in the Geiger's heyday. The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada. |
