Herman C. Timm House
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The Herman C. Timm House is a house listed on the National Register of Historic Places in New Holstein, Wisconsin. The house was the home of an original settler and prominent citizen, Herman C. Timm. The house is a significant example of Queen Anne Style architecture called stick style architecture.
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[edit] Herman C. Timm’s history
Timm came to New Holstein in 1848 from Marne, Germany at age 14. He made his money operating a feed mill called Calumet Feeds at the north end of the block the house is on. He started a bank, and was the first president of the village. [1]
[edit] History
The home was built in 1873 in a Greek revival style. The original home became the rear of the home during an addition in 1891. The addition was done in what was later called "stick style" architecture. The stick style was a 1860-1890 trend where carpentry and woodworking technology allowed for lots of trim detail. Timm’s unmarried children took over the home after his death. They turned the upstairs into a rental unit, and in 1954 upstairs and downstairs were both rented out. The home was donated by H. C. Timm II to the New Holstein Historic Society in 1974. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. [2] The society operated the home as a house museum.
[edit] Disasters
The house had a major roof leak that forced an end to the house tours in 1998. Before the roof was repaired, there was a broken pipe in the dining room. The break happened in around 2003. It dumped over 100,000 gallons of water through the first floor and into the basement. The rising basement waters extinguished the furnace, causing the water in the pipes and the radiators to freeze, then burst. City water meters knew there was a problem somewhere in the city, but no one could find the source of the leak. A volunteer at the house discovered the leak. The volunteer arranged for a heating repairman to stop the flooding. When the repairman left, he slamming the door closed. The door frame was so swollen that the volunteer was stuck inside. She had to go upstairs and call for help through a front window. [3]
[edit] Restoration
The New Holstein Historical Society raised $1.2 million dollars (U.S.D.) for restoration of the Timm House. [4] The Jeffris Foundation of Janesville, Wisconsin gave the Society a $562,875 grant towards the restoration. [5] The reconstruction of the house is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2007. 1
[edit] Reference
1 ‘’Tri-County News’’ May 18, 2006 article "Timm House gets facelift"
