| 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.
SPLIT FIELDSTONE. PHOTO OBSCURED BY TREES.
DESCRIPTION:
The dressed fieldstone L-plan farm house has a two-story gable roofed section facing the street with a side wing extending from the rear to the east. The house is entirely constructed of dressed fieldstone blocks, with the exception of the second story on the side wing. Lintels and sills of the door and window openings are of limestone.
On the north-facing front gable, two windows are evenly spaced on either floor. Centered above the second story windows is a dateblock inscribed, "G. Gebhardt 1874." Above this at the peak of the gable, is a half-round window with a stone sill. On the west facade, three windows align vertically on each floor; the tops of the second story windows meet the entablature at the eave line. The front half of the east facade has four evenly spaced openings; two windows on the second floor, and a window and a door on the first floor. This facade is traversed by a hiped roof porch, filling the space between the lintels on the first floor windows and the sills on the second floor windows. An ell projects from the rear half of the east facade, and the porch roof turns this corner and extends about four feet across the northern wall of the ell to cover a second door. The uprights supporting the porch are of "wrought iron" from the late 20th century and are not original to the house.
The ell's second story is sided in wood; an oriel window extends from the second floor at the east-facing gable end. A gable roof covers the ell. Whether the ell was originally one-story or two stories tall is unknown, both situations were common in the 1870's; however, the change in materials between first and second story could point to the second floor being a later addition. Careful scrutiny of the stone work would determine if the ell itself was a later addition. A small stone building behind the house contained a slaughter room in one half and a smokehouse in the other. A garage is a related building.
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE:
This residence is an excellent example of the stone mason's art. Although fieldstone was extensively used for house and barn foundations, and even silos, the George Gebhardt House is one of a very few resources in Brookfield made from dressed blocks of fieldstone. The straightfoward simplicity of the vernacular architecture is well-preserved in the north and west facades of this residence.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
In information compiled by the Waukesha historical Society, George Gebhardt and John Pfeister are listed as the first recorded property owners of 40 acres in Section 22, having purchased the acreage in 1844. (John Pfeister's homestead is in Section 26, Elm Grove).
George Gebhardt came to Wisconsin from Germany in 1840, making him one of Brookfield Township's earliest settlers. Gebhardt was also an early founder of the Catholic Church. He probably worked the land in Section 22 prior to purchasing it. He sent for and married his fiancee, Magdalene Gribelt, on June 1, 1847; the 1850 Federal Census lists George, age 30, his 30-year-old wife, and an infant son, John, along with a 27-year-old farm laborer, Yohan, probably a younger brother of George. Ten years later the Census lists seven Gebhardt children. The Gebhardt children attended the Visitation School (Saint Mary's) in the summer and the Dixon School in the fall. [A].
Accroding to plat maps, George owned 40 acres in 1859, and 310 acres in 1873. This stone house was probably under construcion in 1873, as it appears on that plat map; the inscribed marker on the north gable of the house says, "G. Gebhardt 1874". Fieldstone was used for the home's construction. The house is said to have been built by the farmhands who had been stone masons in Germany; this information is corroborated by the fact that each stone was cut and dressed prior to being placed in the walls.
George Gebhardt was listed in the 1891 Brookfield Business Directory as a grain and clover thresher, as well as a farmer. "All work done in the best and quickest manner." The 1891 plat map shows that George had divided his land holdings, with the western half now in the ownership of his son Matt. George Gebhardt's "Green Grove Farm" of 120 acres now stood next to Matt Gebhardt's "Iron Spring Farm" on the same size. George Gebhardt died on December 29, 1903 at the age of 85 years.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
George Gebhardt was an important pioneer settler in Brookfield Township.
The B in the photo code stands for BKFD. Another map name is City Engineer 10-1-92. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [A]. Questers, "Historical Landmark Tour," 1991.
[B] 1850, 1860, 1870 Plat Maps.
[C]. "First Recored Property Owners," Map, Waukesha County Museum.
[D]. State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
[E]. WAUKESHA FREEMAN 6/3/1996. |
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