Photo courtesy of Vogt family The historic Giekse House in Marshall is now owned by Brandon and Sarah Vogt. They and their three children; Viviana, Eleanor and Vince; plan to move in this week.

MARSHALL — The historic Gieske House on West Lyon Street has new owners and a bright future.

Brandon and Sarah Vogt, both Marshall High School graduates, purchased the home from former owner Mark Goodenow. They closed on the property Aug. 27, and plan to begin moving into the house this week.

They see the Gieske House as a long term family home for themselves and their three children; Viviana, Eleanor and Vince. All three of them attend Marshall Public Schools.

“We all fell in love with the house,” Sarah said. “We’re going to hang on to this one. It’s a special place, a perfect place for our family.”

The Vogts have plenty of experience buying and selling houses. They’ve lived in nine different homes in the past 20 years, most of which are located in the Twin Cities. The Gieske House will be the third house they’ve owned in Marshall since moving back three years ago.

They purchased their first Marshall house when they were in Australia during a six- month trip around the world. It was a way to take a break from the busy lifestyle they had in the Twin Cities. It took them to Hawaii, Bali, Australia, Thailand , Spain and Portugal.

“We saw amazing places on our trip,” Sarah said. “It was a chance to talk about what we wanted most out of life. We decided that the most important things are family and living somewhere that has a sense of community.”

They both plan to have home offices at the Gieske house. Brandon works remotely as an e-commerce consultant for Best Buy. Sarah is a full-time real estate agent at Wilson O’Brien Realtors and is also writing a series of books based on Bible adventures.

Other decisions they’ll make for the house include how to use the basement vault room and what to do with the bonus room on the third floor.

The vault might become either a bar area or a recreation room for the kids. The bonus room might be a space for guests as it’s most recently been used, but would also make a good space for a home theater.

“Our heads are spinning with the possibilities,” Brandon said. “There’s a lot of available space. We’ll get moved in first and then make some of the floor plan decisions.”

The Gieske House, one of two buildings in Marshall that are on the National Register of Historic Places, was built by Marshall Milling owner William F. Gieske.

After being a single family home, it served as Marshall’s hospital from 1938 until 1950. It was then turned back into a private home, and has had only two owners in the past 60 years.

Previous owner Mark Goodenow completed extensive restoration work on the house. His efforts enabled the Gieske House to endure in the 21st century when three other large historic homes on nearby West Redwood Street needed to be demolished.

“People have asked us what kinds of changes we’ll make,” Sarah said. “We actually don’t have to change anything because Mark did a lot with it and went with a top quality restoration. It will be nice to just move in and enjoy it.”

They added that they might at some point plan improvements to the carriage house, the only part of the property that hasn’t been restored.

They also plan to continue the tradition of having occasional tours and events at the house. Most of the events Goodenow hosted were sponsored by the Lyon County Historical Society.

“Once we get settled, we’ll be open to the idea of events,” Brandon said. “We’ll consider requests as they come up. It’s important to give the community a chance to enjoy our home’s history.”

Goodenow advertised the house this summer at an asking price of $325,000. It sold to the Vogts for a price of $320,000.

He decided to buy his parents’ home in Iowa as a more practical option for his retirement years. He noted that the Gieske House became a hobby for him as well as a place to live. After accepting the Vogts offer, he expressed satisfaction with the results of his sale.

“It’s time for me to move on,” Goodenow said. “I’m glad there was interest and that it sold quickly. The house has good new owners. I wish them the best with it.”