KINGSTON — Drivers headed east on State Route 104 Friday morning got a bit of a surprise as they approached the hill before downtown Kingston.

A large, wooden, post-and-beam home was slowly making its way west on SR 104, headed for its new destination — the Stillwaters Environmental Education Center.

After nearly three hours, around 12:15 p.m., the house finally made it to its new home.

The two-story building, also known as the “Tree House,” had been temporarily located in the Kingston Lumber employee parking lot and private property of Cal and Marion Dennis on Lindvog Road since February.

The building, which was originally located on the corner of SR 104 and Lindvog Road, was donated to Stillwaters by American Marine Bank after the bank revealed plans to construct a new branch on that property. AMB officials decided to donate the house instead of demolishing it.

“They did the greatest form of recycling,” said Stillwaters volunteer Sally Heacock, who was watching crews inch the house onto the Stillwaters property Friday morning.

The effort started shortly after 9 a.m. after ferry traffic had cleared and the house — which was on dollies with hydraulic wheels that were steered via remote control — was moved down Lindvog Road, onto State Route 104 and onto Barber Cut Off Road. The final proved to be the most difficult leg of the trek.

“I don’t think Barber Cut Off was built to move houses,” joked Stillwaters program manager Joleen Palmer.

Regardless, the moving went smoothly except for a couple quick halts to avoid signs and to get the peak of the roof past trees and power lines, Palmer explained.

The original route was to take Lindvog Road and turn right onto West Kingston Road, take another right onto Barber Cut Off Road and then turn left into Stillwaters. However, because of increasing financial costs with moving overhead utility lines, the transport had to be rerouted.

For three days prior to the move, Jeff Monroe of Monroe House Moving and utility workers finetuned the plan for the final move and utility workers were on site on Friday temporarily removing, holding down or lifting wires as the house passed by.

“He’s got it down to the inch of each side. I don’t know how he can measure it,” observed Cindi Nevins of Monroe as the house was pulled into the Stillwaters property.

“And what a turning point for Stillwaters,” Heacock added. “Wow, wow, wow.”

To prepare a location for the house, Stillwaters volunteers cleared an area in the upland portion of the property. During the weekend, the house was situated on blocks over the cleared pit, where a foundation will eventually be poured.

The house will be hooked up to utilities and the inside will be remodeled to accommodate the anticipated use — a caretakers apartment upstairs and a seminar/conference room and a library on the first floor. There will also be slight additions to the home.

“It’s on our property. I’d never thought I’d see the day,” said administrative director Naomi Maasberg. “I was losing my confidence.”