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Property Location
Property Features
Resurveyed October 2012; no visible changes.
This farmstead consists of seven historic resources including a house, basement barn, garage, outbuilding, small animal barn, pump house, cellar, and wire silo.
The 2-story Queen Anne house was constructed c.1880. It is irregular in plan with a concrete-over-masonry foundation, wood clapboard and shingle walls, and an asphalt-shingled gable roof. Windows have decorative wood surrounds and crowns. The front elevation faces south and is asymmetrical in plan with a 2-story projecting bay at the western end; the bay is capped with a steeply-pitched gable roof with decorative “gingerbread” bargeboards under the gable. The bay contains a pair of 2-over-2 windows at the first story and a single 2-over-2 window at the second story; the wall around the second-story window is clad in patterned shingles. The remainder of the front elevation contains a 1-story shed-roofed entry porch with decorative bargeboards and turned supports. Inside the porch is a single door and a 2-over-2 window. A small 2-over-2 window is located above the porch at the second story.
Martin and Anna Walser (also spelled Walzer) immigrated to the United States from Switzerland in 1853 with their infant daughter Walborg. The Walser family arrived in Berry Township in Dane County by 1855 and had purchased 120 acres of land originally owned by
Moses Barnes and Samuel Ayres near the small hamlet of Marxville. By 1890, the Walser had purchased and additional 57 acres, bringing their total land holdings to 177 acres. Initially occupying a settlement-era log house that Barnes and Ayres had built, the Walser family constructed the present-day house and barn in about 1880 (possibly incorporating a portion of the log house into their new home's construction). At least five years before his death in 1905, Martin Walser divided the family acreage between two of his sons, Peter and August, with the eastern half (containing the existing farmstead) going to the younger son, Peter.
The majority of the existing outbuildings (including the pump house, small animal barns, and garage) were constructed under the ownership of Peter Walser and his wife Anna. By 1931, Peter Walser had deeded ownership of the property to his eldest son, Roy, although Peter and his two younger sons continued to live on the family farm. The great grandson of Martin Walser owns the farm today meaning that the farm has been owned by the same family for over 100 years.
Other buildings on site #223296 #223293 #223295 #223294 #227615 #223974 #227614
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
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