With help from numerous partners, the University of Michigan slowly and carefully moved a piece of history Nov. 22, adding a new chapter to the legacy of alumnus Raoul Wallenberg.
Wallenberg arrived in Ann Arbor from Sweden in 1931 to study architecture, and spent a year at a modest two-story home at 308 E. Madison St.
After his time at U-M, Wallenberg returned to Europe as World War II began to rage. Using his design skills, he created thousands of protective “Schutz-Pass” passports, documents printed with the Swedish coat of arms that shielded Hungarian Jews from deportation. He also established safe houses under Swedish diplomatic protection and personally confronted German officers to secure passenger releases from trains bound for concentration camps.
By the war’s end, Wallenberg was credited with saving an estimated 70,000 people.
Nearly a century later, U-M took great lengths to preserve Wallenberg’s former abode. The block that held the house is set to become part of the Central Campus Residential Development, a project with the potential to add many more student beds to campus, in addition to the 2,300 beds when Phase 1 opens next fall.
In May, the Board of Regents approved a plan to relocate Wallenberg’s former residence to the corner of Jefferson and Division streets, next door to the former home of another notable U-M alumnus, playwright Arthur Miller, at 439 S. Division St.
The Wallenberg and Miller side-by-side houses will offer visitors a link between two U-M graduates who transformed the world, albeit in dramatically different ways — one through his humanitarianism, the other through his art.
The morning of Nov. 22 resembled a well-choreographed dance, with several dozen crew members from several agencies inching the two-story, wood-framed structure to its new location.
Neighborhood onlookers marveled at a turn-of-the-century house shuffling past modern campus buildings. But the key element to the successful relocation was meticulous planning, which started earlier in 2025.
Readying the move
Long before the house creaked down Division Street, numerous organizations huddled to identify every detail. University leaders started planning in April with Walbridge, the firm constructing the new residence halls, and more than a half-dozen utility companies.
Trudy Zedaker-Witte, senior project manager with U-M Architecture, Engineering and Construction, said the structure was used for private student housing for many years and had seen some wear and tear.
“Once we found out it was Wallenberg’s house, we immediately started making the plans to get this moved so we could save it,” she said.
Like most big projects, “when” was a major consideration. The teams found a weekend in Ann Arbor free of U-M football games, major downtown events and large university conferences or gatherings.
“Because you always plan for the unexpected. So there’s been planning and coordination for quite some time, both internally and externally, and we have gone over every detail and contingency for the move,” she said.
Next came on-site preparation at 308 Madison. The Walbridge team had to disconnect the house from its life support of electricity, water and sewer lines. Crews also removed the chimney. But the bones of the house were strong, and very little bracing inside was necessary to physically move it two blocks away.
At the new location on Division Street, Walbridge poured a new basement foundation for the house to site.
Relocating history
Walbridge contracted with Talaski Building Movers for the actual relocation of the structure. Mark Corey, senior project manager with Walbridge, said the house was first lifted off its old foundation.
“The house was hydraulically raised in place, with steel beams installed under first-floor structure and fastened to all floor joists,” Corey said.
ABOUT THE Wallenberg house
- Structure: Two-story, wood-frame house
- Height: 25 feet, 5 inches
- Weight: 54,000 pounds
- Size: 1,920 square feet
- Who helped with the move: Numerous U-M departments, Walbridge, Talaski Building Movers, city of Ann Arbor, AT&T, Comcast, DTE, Everstream
Those beams gave the 100-year-old, 54,000-pound house a strong platform. Talaski then literally pulled the house off its foundation, using a backhoe to move it off the basement and onto a set of three hydraulic wheel systems.
On Nov. 22, crews arrived well before dawn to begin closing streets, moving wires, poles and traffic signals. Curious onlookers were kept at a distance, and not just because a semi was about to pull a two-story house through Ann Arbor.
“Most of these utilities were moved live,” Trudy said. “The companies would move the utilities ahead of us so we could move the house. And then by the time we got the house here, they were already back at Madison, working the way back to put everything back the way it was,” she said.
Like a pickup hauling a camper, the semi effortlessly pulled the house away from Madison Street at 7:43 a.m. and began its journey over curbs, up hills and through complicated intersections.
A new life
The Wallenberg house safely traveled the two blocks in 52 minutes, with no issues. Later that morning Talaski Building Movers slid the structure onto its new foundation and lowered it into place.
The house will be secured for winter weather, and the university will next explore what to do in terms of preservation and restoration.
“The university has a sense of history and preservation, and there’s a sense of belonging,” Zedaker-Witte said. “We do a lot of restoration out here because the intent is to keep buildings and structures around for the next generation of students, faculty and staff.”
Corey said Walbridge has helped the university with projects new and old.
“Whether it’s moving a historic structure like Wallenberg, restoring campus buildings like Lawyers Club, Edward Henry Kraus, Michigan Union, or building the future like Munger and the Law School, it’s great to be part of it,” Corey said. “And, part of the Michigan tradition past, present and future.”
