BLUFFTON, OH (WLIO) - An open house on Saturday let people step into the life of a Swiss Mennonite settler in 19th century Bluffton.
Decked in period-accurate clothing, docents from the Swiss Community Historical Society gave guided tours through the 1850s Schumacher house. The home and outbuildings are mostly either the same as they would have been back then, or restored, with donations of furniture from the same decade.
Visitors could admire the genuine vintage covered wagon in the barn, the loom upstairs, and a recreation of how the property's gardens may have looked.
This weekend's open house focused on the summer kitchen, including a taste test of stew and cornbread prepared in it.
"A summer kitchen was used around here where it gets hot and humid in the summer and your source of cooking was a huge fireplace. You didn't want all that heat in the house. And then when you begin to can or take care of your produce, all of that makes a lot of heat, so they built summer kitchens a little distance from the house," explained Pat Scheidler, a docent and board member of the Swiss Community Historical Society.
The Schumacher Homestead will have another open house on the first Saturday of August. To learn more about the Swiss Community Historical Society and see other event dates, visit their website.
