Another example of “looking to the past to preserve the future”, Idaho Strategic’s President and CEO successfully saved/moved a historic house, built in 1909, that was slated for demolition. As the last remaining building of the former Coeur d’Alene College, “the White House”, as it was dubbed by its former owners at Orchard Ridge, was originally built to house the first President of the college. However, when the college closed in 1917 due to a large portion of its students leaving to fight in World War 1, the White House and campus was converted into a home for elders and orphans, and most recently the administrative offices for Orchard Ridge. Fortunately, when Orchard Ridge realized the need to expand, instead of demolishing the house they reached out to the community in hopes that someone shared their desire to save it.

On Sept. 18th, 2018 John Swallow bought the White House as part of his larger vision to preserve the historical integrity of the house/community and use it as his family’s lake home in Casco Bay. Supported by his aim small miss small strategy, Mr. Swallow began the long planning process of moving the house, which included putting it on a barge and floating it across Lake Coeur D’Alene. Similar to the mining industry and putting the Golden Chest into production, others before Mr. Swallow had ideas on how to move the house, but nobody had the creativity and resourcefulness to make it work. As Mr. Swallow described his philosophy in an interview with the local news crew, “[moving the house] is just a process, like anything, it’s like building a business… there is a process to it and you just start, keep going, and knocking down the pins.”

The White House is one of many examples of the corporate culture at Idaho Strategic. We don’t just talk about getting work done, we do it. We live, work, and raise families in the extended communities where we operate, thus we have a deep-seated desire to protect our neighborhoods and environment for future generations. We are committed to preserving the best elements of our history while remaining open to opportunities to restore and protect our environment.