Friday, July 24, 2015

Restoration Of 150-Year-Old Saline County Farmstead Begins


WESTERN, Neb. -- Channel 10/11's "Pure Nebraska" TV series reports on the planned restoration of a Saline County pioneer homestead near the community of Western.

According to the story, the restoration is being overseen by owner Kay Kottas, her husband Joe, and cousin Floyd Zabel.  The home has been in the family for 150 years. 

When they almost lost this piece of history in a flood Kay knew something needed to be done. "We have to do it now, I've always wanted to do it but we came very close to losing it so i really wanted to get it done," said Kay Kottas.

According to Kay, the historical society is helping to find the original foundation of the house since it was moved at one point about 75 feet from its original location.

Kottas says they want to be able to share the history of this one-of-a-kind home with tourists so they can "experience exactly what it was like for the pioneers when they lived here."

"There is no plumbing, there is no electricity. It would just be a really good experience for folks to understand what it was like," said Kottas.

The restoration of the home will take place in four stages and Kottas can't wait to get the fundraising and renovations started. "It's tremendous, we've had a lot of interest already.  I'm already finding we have relatives that I've never heard of before, it's great to hear from community members who think this is just a wonderful thing to do," said Kottas.

Floyd Zabel was raised on the farm and sold the farm to the Kottas'.

"When Kay came down, we jumped on the three-wheeler, went up to the pasture and looked at some of the native plants, her excitement grew about owning the farm and her excitement grew about preserving the pioneer history," said Floyd Zabel, previous owner.

Zabel says he can't wait to see Kay's vision plan out.  Kottas says she can't wait to share this piece of family history with the community.

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