The now vacant home was lifted onto a trailer Monday and will soon be moved 6.5 miles southeast to Hidden Acres Christian Center, where it will again serve as a shelter for those in ministry.

Donated by Randy and Cindy Danielson, the home’s relocation reflects a project rooted in both preservation and purpose, as it will soon provide housing for a family, while also continuing a long-standing commitment from the Danielson family, who also donated their farmhouse from north of Dayton to the camp nearly a decade ago.

“We had a good experience donating our farmhouse to them,” said Cindy Danielson. “It’s a very good feeling to know they will use and improve it at the camp.”

The rectory housed clergy until 2008 when the Catholic churches in Webster County combined to create Holy Trinity Parish. The Danielsons later purchased the rectory in December 2024 as part of the church’s property. They have since remodeled the vacant church into their current home.

-Submitted photo
Ensor Movers, of Brock, Nebraska, dug out and raised the former rectory home in Dayton in preparation for it to be moved later this week. The home, owned by Randy and Cindy Danielson, was donated to Hidden Acres Christian Center where it will provide housing to a family of three.

“The people that lived here for many years were helping others, and now again, it’s going to be helping people who are in ministry and are ministering to youth and adults,” Joy Pals, project manager at Hidden Acres Christian Center, said of the rectory.

The rectory’s move also carries a deeper meaning: the house will be renamed “The Beverly House,” at Danielson’s request, honoring Beverly Beasterfield, Pals’ mother, whose legacy comes full circle one year after her passing.

“Cindy started following my story about a year ago,” said Pals. “My mom, Beverly, was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia a year ago this week. She passed weeks later on Mother’s Day. She and my dad, Ray, started out on a camp in Pennsylvania shortly after they were married. They had me, and we were a family of three living in a little house on a camp. Now, this house is going to serve a little family of three living on a camp and just give them a fresh start, just like my parents had. This would mean so much to her.”

On Monday, the house was hoisted and placed onto beams for moving. Weather dependent, the house is tentatively planned to make its way down Iowa Highway 175 to Quail Avenue and then to 390th Street on Thursday.

According to Pals, once on-site, the house will be placed near its new location, then a basement contractor will come in, pour the basement, and the house will then be moved onto the new foundation. They will then work to dig in new lines and connect utilities.

-Submitted photo
Randy Danielson removes bricks from the outside of the rectory house in Dayton. Danielson and his wife, Cindy, have donated the house to Hidden Acres Christian Center. The house will be moved later this week. The bricks will be put back on the house once it is in its new location.

“This means a lot,” said Pals. “Cindy has really connected with my mom from afar and has been there for me throughout everything that has happened in the past year with my mom being gone. It’s kind of crazy that we’re moving this house that Cindy wants to name The Beverly House one year to the week that we found out that mom no longer could fight the cancer. This house, and those that it will serve, would mean so much to her, and it means so much to me.”