Moving history: A farmhouse and barn took a trip from Lee’s Summit to Grain Valley

For more than 100 years, the Stayton family house and barn sat atop a hill near Douglas Street and Colbern Road, a familiar landmark for anyone passing through the area. But by the end of last year, both the barn and house were moved from their longtime home to a new location in Grain Valley.

The move of both structures makes room for the new $900 million Discovery Park, a 268-acre commercial and residential development. The project, which broke ground last fall, includes apartments, office and retail, hotels and restaurants, as well as grocery and entertainment businesses.

Siblings Donna Evans and Jack Rich are both the grandchildren of John Stayton and Anna Marie Dorothy Stayton, who bought the property in 1917, constructing the house in 1920 and the barn approximately one year earlier.

The Staytons raised seven children, including Donna and Jack’s mother, Elenora Stayton Rich. Four of the children were born on the property.

Donna Evans and Jack Rich have many positive memories of their grandparents and the Lee’s Summit farm.

“The house was not full of diamonds and riches but full of history and love,” Evans said. “The farm was a well-run farm with cattle, pigs and chickens. There was a lot of gardening to can vegetables and fruit.”

She added that farm workers were provided with large meals at noon that always included a piece of homemade pie.

“They had a very humble life surrounded by God,” she said.

The siblings’ memories of the home played an important role in the decision to move the structures.

“This house was so full of love, my brother Jack and I just could not see her fall,” she said. “Experts came in to verify she was so worth saving, saying you will never build a house like this new. The barn was so much of the farm, we just had to save her, too.”

Donna Evans and her husband, Bill, are moving to Grain Valley to live in the relocated house. Plans call for the house to be placed on its new foundation this month. The house’s bedrooms will be rebuilt with original wood and a new roof will be added.

Joe Jonassen and his company, Jonassen Structural Movers, were responsible for relocating the home. The actual moving of the house from Lee’s Summit to Grain Valley took around 12 hours, although Jonassen’s company began working on the project in September to allow for several weeks of preparation and several additional weeks to complete the job at the new site, he said.

Jonassen Structural Movers, located in Hartville, specializes in moving large structures ranging from sizable machinery such as mining equipment to pole sheds to houses.

“We move anything heavy or fragile,” he said. “We even moved a large concrete fountain once.”

When evaluating the feasibility of moving a structure such as the Stayton house, Jonassen said the focus is on structural integrity.

“It (the Stayton house) is in excellent shape,” he said.