Fargo-residents Nykky and Josh were visiting a friend in Luverne, North Dakota when they saw a house for sale for 17,000 dollars. It wasn’t a fit, but it led them to their dream project: a family homestead with 3 transplanted historical structures — a 1910 train depot, a barn, and a one-room schoolhouse — that each could serve as a home.

The buildings had been brought to the location a couple decades earlier by a couple hoping to create a unique home for themselves and their five children. The train depot was originally 8 miles down the road in Hannaford. Built as part of the Great Northern Line, the depot was originally an important part of rural North Dakotan life- for passengers, cargo and livestock (before a North Dakotan from Medora established meat packing). The depot was finally shut down in 1972 and went up for sale.

After purchasing their property, Nykky and Josh began renting out the depot for the busy summer season (their homestead sits on Lake Ashtabula). Later they refurbished the one-room schoolhouse next door to the barn they live in and began to rent that as well. Nykky hopes in the future they can transplant an old saloon and church to the property to complete their little village.