A historic Victorian cottage in Oak Park’s Frank Lloyd Wright district appears to almost be floating, sitting on a temporary base to keep it safe while a construction crew builds a new foundation.

Donal Hughes, from Hughes Development Company, said the more-than-100-year-old home was determined by the Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission to be historically significant, barring it from demolition.

The the 800-square-foot home was built sometime in the 1890s, Hughes said, and is located at the 600 block of Woodbine Avenue.

“The home was sitting on tree trunk foundation,” Hughes said. “We decided the best plan was to move the home off the existing foundation and move it three feet to the north to get more room for a driveway and build a new foundation.”

Indiana-based Dillabaugh, Inc was contracted to lift and move the house Hughes said, and the project cost about $13,000.

The extra steps had to be taken to keep it safe while creating a new foundation and adding a large addition to the existing historic structure, he said.

After numerous meetings with the village’s Historic Preservation Commission and the Zoning Board, Hughes’ plan  to move the house to the rear of the lot, build the new foundation, relocate the house on the new foundation and build a new two-story addition at the rear with an attached garage was approved.

Hughes said his crews lifted the home last week and started working immediately to build a new foundation.

“The best use was to rehabilitate the structure and add a large addition to the rear,” Hughes said.

Prior to purchasing, Hughes said the home was vacant for some time. Shireesh and Saritha Reddy own the house, and Hughes said they expect to get into their new home in about nine months or so.

Following construction, addition and renovations, Hughes speculated the home could be worth more than $1 million.

bdoyle@tribune.com