Since Armstrong bought the former Troutman house at 421 N. Main St., it has been assumed the building would be razed.

But an Allison Park couple has worked with the cable and Internet services provider to save the home and it will be moved to the corner of McKean and East Penn streets before July's end.

"I have been working with Armstrong Cable for about 10 months to try to remove the house," said new owner Lynne Simon.

She and husband Ray Simon paid just $1 for the 128-year-old triple-brick Italianate Victorian. But the real cost lies in moving the home to it's new location, formerly a parking lot for Armstrong, now owned by the Simons.

The Simons would not elaborate on the cost.

"The power lines will have to be dropped during the move. There are four utilities total involved in the project," she said.

The Simons currently live in a wooden Victorian home in Allison Park, formerly occupied by the Allison family for which the area is named. Searching for a brick Victorian to replace it, they found their dream home while looking at another property in Butler.

"Both of us came upon this house separately," Lynn Simon said.

"And we found in the house almost 30 original blueprints from the Troutman family, on a shelf in the pantry."

Built in 1880 by the Joseph Colestock family, the house was bought by the Troutmans in the 1920s. It was later owned by the Butler Arts Council, which used it as an office before renting it for residential use.

Local artist Tom Panei lived there, his style recognizable in the tiling of a second-floor hallway.

The home has been unoccupied for about a year.

"It's actually in remarkable condition. It just needs a coat of paint inside and a power wash outside," Lynne Simon said of the home. "They (the Troutmans) put a lot of love into this house."

The Troutman family added a conservatory and library to the rear of the house and converted the servants' quarters to a second kitchen, as can be seen in the blueprints, but most of the structure remains unchanged.

Original limestone, soapstone and marble make up the home's six fireplaces, along with the original hardwood floors and expertly crafted trim.

After finding a bank to fund the move and an insurance company willing to risk the venture, the Simons went through half a dozen house movers who said the project was beyond their capabilities before finding Wolfe House Movers of Bernville, Berks County.

Part of the problem is the weight of the home, estimated at between 400 and 500 tons. The average prefabricated home weighs less than 50 tons.

"This has been an emotional roller coster. But we definitely have the right people for the job," Ray Simon said.

In the next two weeks, Wolfe will lift the house using hydraulic unified jacks and position steel girders underneath. Finally, a remote-controlled, wheeled chassis will carry the home to its new address at 406 McKean St.

"They said it moves about as fast as a person walks, so the actual move should take between half an hour and 45 minutes," Lynne Simon said.

Once at its new location, the home will be lowered into a hole dug ahead of time and the foundation will be built underneath it.

"I really think this is going to be a wonderful thing for Butler as well as the house," Lynne Simon said.

Ray Simon works in industrial sales and Lynne Simon, whose new job is the full-time restoration of her new home, is retired from sales.

The pair, who has family in Butler, hope to be moved in by September.