When Your Step Dad Knows Of A Spot! German Homestead/Kennedy Papers House

While out of town to visit my parents, we planned to do a little exploring. After returning from our first morning of adventures, my step dad said he may know of a spot. I wasn’t too hopeful, but you never know if you don’t try. We hopped in the vehicle and proceeded to try and lay eyes on this spot. We drove past this house twice as he pointed it out. It was either abandoned or really not cared for, because we could barely see it from the road. Just an overgrown driveway leading a path off the road. We dropped my step dad off and went right back with the hopes of gaining entry.

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We backed down the driveway and initially skipped the house. We were then greeted by a handful of old barns and outbuildings. Each of these buildings was constructed in an old world style. Massive logs all hand-hewn and dovetailed to fit snuggly together. This type of craftsmanship is rarely seen anymore. I don’t mean quality woodworking isn’t done anymore. I mean the size of these logs and the rough utilitarian feel of these buildings. They were all built for a purpose and to last many generations. After a quick roam around these outbuildings, we headed for the house.

Just like most old homes, this place had an outhouse before indoor plumbing was prevalent.(Wait till we get to the heating) We roamed from the barns, past the outhouse, to the perimeter of the main house. Here we started tugging on doors and making our way around the house together. None of the doors we came to would budge, but I saw something that caught my eye. In the distance, through some trees, lay a truck cap next to the house. This truck cap was strategically placed next to the house, where a cellar door/ stairwell should be. As we approached the cap, I could see I was correct. I flipped that truck cap over and we saw our entry(sort of)!

I stepped into the cellar stairwell onto very rickety wooden stairs. I made my way down and started to snap a few pics of the flooded basement. We had just gotten a few weeks of rain, so everything was overly saturated. This basement was flooded only a few inches deep, it would’ve been doable. Jean followed me into the stairwell, yet those rickety stairs weren’t having it. They crumbled under her feet and she fell forward. Luckily, somehow she managed to keep her head and camera protected on the way down.. A few bruises and scrapes, but she was a trooper. We decide to get out, keep our feet dry, and try a few more doors and windows.

That last side we came around(1st side we saw) had a decent-sized porch that was completely overgrown and unrecognizable. The door on that porch… yup, you guessed it, it was completely unlocked and open. Now, no matter the soreness, we had to see what was inside! Wow, are we glad we followed through on this one. This place just kept on giving us interesting things to document.

What follows will be way too many pictures of this eccentric 1800s German homestead. We found tons of documentation detailing many people’s lives. Yet, we found almost complete paperwork for at least one man; from his birth certificate and report cards, to his marriage invite, and even his child’s birth certificate. This entire family’s history, including farmstead receipts, were all saved in these 2 leaded glass built-in cabinets(simple, yet gorgeous). We spent a total of 5-6 hours here between our 2 visits, and much of that time was spent right in front of these cabinets soaking up the family history. We also had numerous vintage and antique farm knowledge, arithmetic, and general knowledge textbooks to keep us busy! The endless treasures that remain here are crazy.

Our 1st few feet in the door we would pass the built-ins, and enter a room with a piano, safe, typewriter, and too many other treasures to name. I was still soaking it in when I heard Jean starting to freak out a bit. Not in a bad way, but in the “excited and I can’t contain it” way. She had just found numerous newspapers from when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. From the night before to 4-5 days after the shooting, they kept all those papers. As news and details were unfolding and papers were being produced, this family in Northern Wisconsin kept up on and saved each day’s papers for posterity. We are fairly certain they had an affinity for the entire Kennedy family. Among the JFK papers, we also found a few newspapers surrounding Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, and there were even a few magazines and newspaper articles about Jackie Kennedy. When we went back the second day we made sure to get good hi-res pictures of all the papers. (we will share these upon request)

The next section of the house that drew our attention was the unsettling basement. Half of which was flooded on our first day, but mostly dry the second day! It was somewhere between a basement and a crawl space. Taller than a crawl space, but not full basement height either. The only entry besides the cellar door was through a wall paneled door in the bathroom. This bathroom would’ve been added at a later date, when indoor plumbing became common place. This basement had remnants of tools and jarring/canning supplies. Some of the jars were still intact with sealed goods(pickles, peaches, mushroom tincture(??)) still awaiting their next stomach. This basement also had 3 larger wood burners, one under each main section on the home. House sections and the infrastructure to support them(heating, plumbing, later electrical) would’ve all been added throughout the generations as the need arose. Each of these heating units had duct work extending in every direction to heat this homestead before forced air heating was common. There was even a large wood pile in the basement that sat below a wood window or chute. That way, there was always a steady supply of heating “fuel”(wood) on hand to heat the home through even extended periods of bitter cold! At different points in the home, small chains ran down to each wood burner. These chains would’ve been used to adjust the heat without going in the basement, by adjusting the air intake into the wood burners. Simple, yet so effective!

Once out of the cellar we made our way up to the second floor. We traversed a very steep and narrow set of stairs to find ourselves between two rooms. There was little to no landing at the top of the stairs, so that transition was a bit off. This spot would’ve been a terrible trip or fall hazard for anyone visiting the home. Up here there was collection of old radio cabinets(Zenith & Airline) and a few instruments. One of the Zenith radio cabinets even had an attached pullout record player. Most of this home had a musical feel to it as well. A few different pianos and keyboards were strew about the home. Most of these things we documented on our first day, but the antique sewing cabinet was new. While roaming on our second day, I noticed a dark lacquered antique cabinet in the middle of a room that we had both walked past multiple times. I decided to see what was inside, and I’m lucky I did! There was an extremely old Damascus Grand foot pedal driven sewing machine with all the “bit and bobs” still inside! Dates on the Damascus Grand vary, but I would assume this is a near WWI contemporary to a Singer foot pedal driven cabinet. Such a cool cool find!

Parts of this home were so cluttered with what seemed to be rummage sale items. A few rooms were loaded with vintage books and piles of toys from every era. This entire home felt like a mini archaeological dig, with us unearthing new treasures at each turn. This next section will be a collection of those toys and releases from the world. Everything from board games and puzzles, to computer games and dolls. As usual the dolls were an extra layer of creepy with some missing limbs or even heads. There was even an early Star Trek Enterprise model and early 1980’s Bristle Blocks.(The much more lame version of Lego from my childhood) Also Records, Tapes, Army Men, Ice Skates, OH MY…. What, if any, other treasures can you identify in these pics??

We are circling back to where we started and visiting the 2 gorgeous leaded glass built-in cabinets. These cabinets were loaded to the brim with treasures. Even though these were covered thoroughly, they will be a major part of why we go back! Text books, farm knowledge, coloring books, farm expense ledgers, newspapers, home remedies, among so much more was just left here in this home. There were also the piles of text books from many different eras all throughout the house. We hope some of these books spark some nostalgia!

This next grouping will also be a collection books, pictures, and hand written items, but with a more personal bend! This home had so many small unique items, from the farm expense ledgers and birth certificates to wedding invites, check stubs, and shopping lists. All of it was pieces of their history written in black & white, and I couldn’t get enough! I was enamored with the small book that someone decided to use as a platform for decoupage. This book had small pictures and adverts lovingly pasted into it, to save for generations. There was just so much advertising. Chocolates, clothes, shotgun shells, books, nursery rhymes, seed packs, carpets, coffees, teas, wallpaper, flowers, and so many more small very colorful adverts were here for me to flip through and document.

The last portion of pictures are just some general overview shots of the rooms and clutter. While there was a ton of stuff, this place didn’t feel like it was a hoarders heaven. It felt more like things were gathered here for a large family rummage sale, or something similar. I wish we would’ve gotten a few more pictures of that vintage typewriter, but that is one more reason to go back. The room on the second floor that had the lights on, was a ton warmer than the rest of the house. The wallpaper was peeling away and there were flying insects everywhere. I was not staying in there for long. “The Monsters Cage” being “Lettered” onto the crib felt like something out of Back to the Future. This place also had no shortage of great character and old world German chunky woodwork. This place will be protected by us, if only for us to experience it again, one more time!

As always, again, thank you all for playing along! It really does mean a ton to us! Like, comment, share, subscribe, and all other interactions are always welcome and encouraged! You could even tell us about a spot you want us to check out, or just send us an email for the hell of it! Email US