The Office Park At Settler's Square

LOCATION: Mequon, Wisconsin

  • Half-Timber House

  • Mequon Log Home

  • Threshing Barn

TYPE: Adaptive Re-use Historic Office Complex

YEAR BUILT: 1853 YEAR RENOVATED: 1994

PROPERTY HISTORY:

The Threshing Barn: Built in 1853 by August Rummler, this barn was located 6 miles south of Watertown on Ranch Road. The timbers are mostly Tamarak, known for their longevity and resistance to water damage since they grow in swampy, wet habitat. Timber framing expert Lyle Lidholm, tells of cutting through one of the Tamarak timbers and finding the center core still gummy with sap after 130 years! Replacement timbers were custom crafted by Lyle out of Red Oak while the pegs are White Oak.

The Half-Timber House: This home was built by a Mr. Krueger in 1847 and was located 1.5 miles east of Jackson on the north side of Hwy 60. There are 300 timbers in this house, most made of Red Oak and a few of Elm, with only 10% requiring replacement (versus 30-40% typically needed in a restoration like this). Timber framer Lyle Lidholm, who did this reassembly, claims this is the finest half timber restored building he has ever seen, attributable to the fact that for most of its life, it was completely covered by wood siding and not exposed to the weather. Lyle says Old World Wisconsin wanted this house, but couldn’t arrange the purchase at the time the owner was selling it. The numbering on the timbers throughout were chiseled by Mr. Krueger, not the restorers. The original “nogging” (brick masonry used to fill in between the timbers) were of local sun-dried, hand-cast clay bricks. This house is listed in the Historical Building Survey on record at the Library of Congress.

The Mequon Log Home: This small home was built in 1860 by a Mr. Wulff and was located off of River Road along the Milwaukee River just south across from what was once “Boder's On the River“ restaurant at 11919 N River Rd, Mequon, WI. It was purchased in 1983 by Kubala Washatko Architects for $1.00 from the City of Mequon, with the caveate that it would be moved and restored. When disassembling in 1983, timber framer Lyle Lidholm found a small grocery token behind the interior wall boards dated 1863.