CARY, N.C. (WNCN) — The Town of Cary is working to preserve a historic home.

Monday, crews spent the morning moving the Ivey-Ellington house to its new home on South Academy Street. 

“It’s not something you see every day, seeing the house moved,” said Kevin Vansant.

At a slow, careful pace the gothic style home moved through the streets of Downtown Cary.

“It really is pretty cool. I mean it’s very surprising that…it’s going so slow that you can’t even really see it,” said Vansant’s son, Bernat.

The home is a piece of Cary’s old history.

The Ivey-Ellington house has been in Cary since the 1870s.

The National 2008 National Register Report says the home is “a rare example of a gothic revival cottage architecture in Wake County.”

That history is why the town of Cary is preserving the home.

Rather than tear it down, the town is moving it to its new location where the old Cary Library used to be. 

“It’s a cool, old historic house–the architecture of it,” said Kevin Vansant.

One by one crews spent the morning picking up the house in its entirety and moving it about a block away from its old location.

Anne Kratzer says with so much development happening downtown, she’s happy the home is being preserved.

“This is so important for the town to save its history and its character,” said Kratzer. “Here it will be appreciated and celebrated.”

The town plans to start rehabilitating the home this summer.