Some people peeked from behind curtains. Children ran from school classrooms to watch from the curb. And others, armed with curiosity or cameras, simply fell into step to join what became an impromptu parade.  The main attraction was a stately 115-year-old house that residents couldn't help but admire as it rolled down Etiwanda Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday.

Workers from American House Moving Inc. guide the historic Isle House south on Etiwanda Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday morning as local residents walk alongside, fascinated by the massive task.

"We're really grateful because it's so easy to imagine that this house could have been destroyed," said Carolyn Holke, president of the Etiwanda Historical Society. "This is one of the last surviving buildings from the days of the Etiwanda colony." 

The light blue house, with its white trim and slender columns, was built in 1883 by George Chaffey who founded the Etiwanda area of Rancho Cucamonga as well as communities that eventually became Ontario and Upland. The house was latter purchased by a prominent citrus producer named James Isle and has since been known as the Isle House. 

"They just dug a hoe and scooped tat house up," said 5-year-old Timothy Younger, who watched with his preschool class as the house rolled by. 

"It was made in the 1980s," said Timothy, whose mistake brought giggles from his teachers. "That's a really long time ago." 

The Isle House, originally built for Chaffey's mother and sister, temporarily rests two lots away from Chaffey's original home, which was built in 1874 and sold to him by retired sea Capt. Joseph Garcia. The Chaffey-Garcia House is owned by the city but maintained by the Etiwanda Historical Society. Members of the group hope to have a similar arrangement with the Isle House. 

The Isle House's paint is chipped. Its chimney is blackened with soot, and Christmas lights are still strung around the second-story windows. But Historical Society members Nancy Murphy and Marie McCaulley already have visions of turning the six-room house into a museum, a tea house, or even a Victorian gift shop. 

"It will help make Etiwanda a simple place." Murphy said. 

Larry Henderson the city's principal planer, said the first step is to find a permanent location for the house, which can stay only six months at its temporary site on the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way on Etiwanda Avenue between Victoria Street and Base Line Road. 

The next goal, Historical Society members said, is to raise money to renovate the house. 

"Moving it was the easy part," said Ron Bradshaw, the group's vice president.