Ranching Descendants Doing the Heavy Lifting to Preserve History

Vibrant Building Solutions saving old homes, keeping material out of landfills

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

The same characteristics that pioneered the West, like rugged determination, a strong work ethic and a can-do attitude, are easy to spot in Arizona ranching family descendants Garrett Denny and Vince Fornara. Denny is a fifth generation Prescottonian, whose family raised cattle at the Fort Rock Ranch in Seligman from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Fornara is a third generation Arizonan, whose relatives owned dairy farms in the Verde Valley. Today, the men are business partners, making their own mark in Arizona history with their Prescott-based company, Vibrant Building Solutions, which moves entire houses.

Recently, the men were called upon to work with members of another long-time Arizona ranching family to save a home built around 1920. Helene Babbitt, with her husband, the late Jim Babbitt, owned a historic two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow in downtown Flagstaff. She loved the location, but wanted to build a new home for herself that wouldn’t require a lot of maintenance. She contacted the Townsite Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that preserves historic homes and makes them available through its affordable housing program.

Townsite CLT Executive Director Duffie Westheimer was thrilled with the donation, marking the nonprofit’s sixth historic home. She found a lot for the house nearby, but moving the house would require more support. That’s when she called Vibrant Building Solutions.

“That house was built very well,” said Denny. “It has a very strong structure.”