With $260,000 from Lowe's, including house materials, new owner Kay Kirby will restore the Mott House as a showcase for her design business. (Preservation North Carolina)

A house on Lowe's new headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., has been moved a mile away, where it will be renovated as an office.

Lowe's began construction on the site in 2003 and began working with Preservation North Carolina to find someone to claim the house, built in 1885 by local businessman Samuel Mott and empty since Lowe's bought the property four years ago.

Local interior designer Kay Kirby read a story about the 2,400-square-foot Mott House in the Charlotte Observer and contacted Preservation North Carolina.

"We worked with several people that were interested, and she was the best fit," says Mike Stout, director of the nonprofit's northwest office. "One of the biggest challenges for this move was finding property in the area that was close enough to make the move financially feasible."

The Sept. 29 move cost $150,000, according to Stout. Lowe's contributed $260,000 to the project, including house materials, and donated $10,000 to Preservation North Carolina.

"They didn't have to do that. I had a good relationship with Lowe's," Stout says. "They had never planned to tear it down."

With a $1 million grant from Lowe's, the National Trust and the Lowe's Charitable Education and Foundation chose 10 historic sites in the Northeast as grantees, including the Ellis Island Ferry Building. Next year the fund will focus on Rosenwald schools. Read more at http://www.nationaltrust.org/lowesgrant/index.html.

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