1610

This small home has an interesting history and is the oldest building on our tour. Built as a store front, probably on Ashland when it was called Eastern Avenue, it once served as the first home for the Ebenezer Lutheran Church from 1892-1898. At some point in its long history, it was moved to its current location along the alley and probably rotated. At its new location, the building was set on a brick foundation raising it about 3 or 4 feet. It was originally heated by a stove. Now, a gravity air furnace in a partial basement provides the heat for an expanded building. Once a part of the corner property, it was subdivided so that the current owner could purchase it after living there since 1940.

From the sidewalk, you can see the original center windows and eve brackets, which indicate the age of the structure to be over 100 years. Please be sure to look at the photo provided by Ebenezer Lutheran Church of the storefront as a church. As you enter the home through a side porch, you will see the doorway created for the building when its use changed to a dwelling. It has a transom and French doors that may be fitted into a space that was once a window.

The main room of the home is divided by two large arches and center column which support the high ceiling. Their construction date is unknown. The space towards the back of the house has a double layer of flooring and originally held the wood burning stove connected to the chimney. The room divides nicely into a sitting room and music room.

Towards the front of the house are two rooms whose doorway moldings match. The design from inside the bedroom shows moldings that do not match. The doorway surround and baseboard moldings in the bedroom are much more detailed than those in the living room. This indicates that the rooms were added later, maybe at different times.

The back portion of the building must have been added later, along with a small attic room. It includes the kitchen, a small office and the bathroom. The charming kitchen coveys the feeling of a cottage with colorful wallpaper and white cabinets. From the outside, the back window of the home shows bull’s-eye molding, indicating a difference from the older portion of the home at the front. You can see this from the alley next to the house. The building fill the lot on the north and west side. The owner has a beautiful garden on the east side of the house in this most hidden spot in Andersonville. As you leave, note the collection of buildings on the property to the west of the alley. The brick building at the back of the property was once the Ullrich Dairy, complete with milk wagons and horses.