| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
The front half of the Blumer House embodies the distinctive stone construction techniques brought to New Glarus by the original Swiss settlers. They built walls of limestone rubble, then finished them with smooth lime plaster. This same construction method had been used to build houses in the immigrants’ native canton of Glarus since the eleventh century.
The Blumer House is elegant in its simplicity. A one-story porch with a balustraded deck spans the facade, and at the apex of the front gable end, a lunette, or semicircular window, lights the attic. The house was once the residence of Dr. Samuel Blumer, a Swiss immigrant physician. A later owner, Abraham Kundert, a tinsmith and hardware merchant, used the building for his residence and his business. By 1877, Kundert needed more storage and a workroom, so he built the clapboard addition at the rear. He also modified the original front balcony, which had originally cantilevered from the face of the building in the Swiss fashion, and created a porch much like the present one. The house had fallen into disrepair before it was rehabilitated in 1988 as a retail shop.
Dr. Blumer's residence (and the home west of it, 112 Sixth Avenue, site 25) is one of the oldest homes remaining in New Glarus and this gives an indication of the type of structure built by the Swiss settlers soon after their arrival. This particular home has some Greek revival characteristics, including return cornices. It was owned by Blumer from 1858-1881.
This New Glarus home was once the residence of Dr. Sam Blumer, the village's first physician. His son, J.J. Blumer, followed his father's profession and also served the New Glarus population.
2006- "This Greek Revival style is an excellent example of rubblestone construction with smooth plaster finish, which is typical in the Canton of Glarus. This technique was also used in the first permanent buildings built by the original Swiss settlers who immigrated in 1845. It was first used as a tin smithy. Dr. Samuel Blumer, a local physician, owned the two story rectangular house from 1858-1881. In 1990 Dana Deppler restored the building and placed it on the National Register of Historic Places. "
-"Historic Landmarks of New Glarus", Historical Preservation Commission of New Glarus, prepared by Amanda Crary, 2006. |
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