Information & Progress on the Preservation of the half timbered building built by Michael Witt near Western, NE.
Last update 5/1/05
Picture from Aug 1960 newspaper article - Probably taken about 1915
See Newspaper Articles for description and history of the building
Click on thumbnails for larger picture. Click back button in your browser to return.
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| front | North side | north back | back | south back |
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| south side | brick and timber | mud and timber | ceiling | beam |
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| support beams | support beams |
These pictures were taken March 12, 2005 by Larry Harrington
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Links
This structure is listed in the Nebraska National Register www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/saline.htm
The National Register of Historic Places www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NE/Saline/vacant.html
Roots Web - Historic Places - Saline Co. www.rootsweb.com/~neresour/basic/historic_places.html
Philadelphia Architects and buildings www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/view_location.cfm/NULL,NULL,NE0151,11,1
Americas Historic Places - Saline Co. NE www.americashistoricplaces.com/historynebraska/WittMichaelFachwerkbau.htm
New - Visit the Forum on this Project - Feel free to make comments and subjections.
HELP NEEDED
Currently there is a group of descendants of Michael Witt that are trying to form an organization to preserve this structure. Anyone with ideas and know how in such matters should contact Larry Harrington or Kay Kottas at oldhouse@harringtonweb.com . Larry & Kay have taken the lead on this project with the prodding of Floyd Zabel, whose property the old house now resides. The goal is to preserve the old structure and make it accessible to the general public and educational facilities for study.
Meetings Schedules and Progress
email to Kay Kottas about OLD HOUSE
Dear Sir,
the half-timbered house, probably built in Nebraska in 1865, is a very interesting building. With regard to the details, that I can find in the photos it could have also been built in a similar way in Westphalia around 1800.
The Westphalian open-air museum in Detmold has been dealing with American half-timbered houses over and over again, which were built by emigrants in the North German and especially in the Westphalian style of architecture. Their team is well versed in restoration work. The address of the museum is as follows:
Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum Detmold
Landesmuseum für
Volkskunde
Krummes
Haus
D-32760
Detmold
Hubertus Michels, employee of the open-air museum in Detmold, has given information on restoration work in the book, which was otherwise written by me: “Fachwerk als historische Bauweise - Ein Materialleitfaden und Ratgeber” (Edition: anderweit, ISBN 3-931824-18-7). It has been published in 2002 and is thus very up to date.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Dr. Ulrich G. Großmann
From: Bob Puschendorf
Larry: Thank you for calling this morning. As noted in the photographs, the fachwerkbau is deteriorating rapidly. It was good to know of your interest in preserving it, however.
I'm linking this email to a website of the National Park Service that provides a series of "Preservation Briefs" on common preservation issues. I'd suggest reviewing Preservation Brief #31 (Mothballing Historic Buildings). Given the state of deterioration, it would be most important to take some immediate steps to stabilize the building, even though a more extensive restoration is your long-term goal.
You should also look at Preservation Brief #26 (Log Buildings) since some of the recommendations would apply to log members that are experiencing deterioration.
I'd also suggest Preservation Brief #5 (Adobe). Although this building is not true "adobe" construction, there are some recommendations that could apply to stabilizing the soft infill, which is most noticeable on the back of the building.
Best wishes for your success. This is a remarkable building.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/presbhom.htm