Venoge Farmstead occupies 30.1 acres along Indian Creek and State Route 129 just west of Vevay in Switzerland County, Indiana.  The 1 1/2 story farm cottage (c.l 805-I815) is centered on a broad alluvial terrace between steep, heavily wooded valley sides — one mile from the Ohio River and above all historic flooding. It is a rural landscape not significantly altered since 1805 when it was purchased and developed by Swiss immigrant, Louis Gex Oboussier. The acreage surrounding  the existing farm cottage has always been farmland, and so it has great archaeological potential for improving our knowledge of how the Swiss lived, farmed and established their vineyards and wineries. The site is still relatively isolated; even in winter there are only two other rooftops within the cottage’s viewshed.

     The cottage is of a French Colonial style typical of the lower Mississippi Valley but extremely rare (if not unique) in the Ohio Valley. It is raised two feet above grade on stone pillars, with its timber frame built posts-on-sill. All major joints are mortise-and-tenon, fastened with wood pegs (trenails). Its structure was precisely measured and symmetrical. It is side-gabled, rectangular in plan, 18 feet wide by 38 feet including integral front gallery (porch). Originally the cottage had whitewashed weatherboard siding, board-and-batten doors, a wood shingled roof and an exterior stairway. Brick nogging between posts insulates the single plastered downstairs room, though a newer hall and stairs now intrude across the back. Upstairs, hand-split accordion lath supports the wall plaster of the back sleeping room; a larger unfinished storage space occupies the front. 

Corner of timber frame

Brick Nogging

      Alterations have not detracted seriously from the cottage’s integrity, as examples of nearly all missing original elements have been found — reused in the later additions. The rest of the built environment, except possibly one outbuilding, has been removed. But so little has changed in the agricultural use of the land, hillsides and the yard surrounding the cottage that much of the information needed to complete the picture of Swiss immigrant life can be recovered.

     The Venoge cottage faces almost due north. Approaching from the front, the gallery is seen to occupy more than half of the original 25’ elevation. The c.1870s addition to the West with clapboard and shed roof has been removed. The front slope of the cottage’s roof (covered with 20th century asphalt shingles) continues over the gallery. The surrounding soil has been built up at least one foot higher than the time of construction.     

The gallery and cottage floor is still about one foot above grade. The timberframe structure is intact throughout, including the four solid gallery posts. Sparse decoration typical of French construction include chamfering of the posts with lambs’ tongue detailing, and beading on exposed beam edges, on a single front weatherboard and vertical along the building corners.      There are presently unused mortises on the gallery posts indicating the former presence of the typical double rail and others suggesting partial closure of the weather side (west). No front step is now evident. All c.1870s and later clapboard has been removed from the cottage in preparation for restoring of its original  9 inch whitewashed weatherboard.

Gallery under restoration

     
     The north facade of the cottage retains its original centered front door and window openings and frames; the door and sash are late 19th century. The altered opening to the right of the window was apparently used when the first interior stairway was built against the masonry chimney — now also removed. This stairway is probably the same one now in the c.1930s back hallway.

     From the east elevation the foundation pillars of roughly trimmed local limestone are clearly visible. Recent stripping of the 1870s clapboard reveals the structural symmetry of the timbers placed on exactly measured centers. The rubble bricks in the nogging were apparently made from at least three distinct clays and show all degrees of firing, suggesting they were not made on site and were only for insulation. (Excellent bricks were known to be produced nearby at the time.)

     The door and its opening are c.1930s and the first floor window is in an early (but not original) door opening. Accordion lath covers the back section of the second floor and the two original window openings on that level are symmetrically arranged. The broken pitched roof, typical of French vernacular architecture, dominates the east elevation silhouette.                                     

     To the south or rear of the cottage are seen two original first floor window openings; sill notches in the posts are identical to the extant example in north elevation. One has been converted to a door and the other walled in behind a later stairway (early 1800s, moved c.1930s, based on Art Deco hardware and newspaper). A c.1930 kitchen has been removed from the rear as has the c.l 870 addition to the west. Again, with the later clapboard removed the timber frame and brick nogging on the first floor and the accordion lath on the second can be clearly seen.

     The west elevation of the original cottage was partially hidden by later (c.1870) additions. Two symmetrically spaced windows, originally holding 6 over 6 sashes are divided in half by the roof of the addition. A second floor doorway is next to the southern-t window. The exterior stairway would have gone to this door from the front of the cottage. The c.1870 addition used the timber frame of an unidentified outbuilding identical in length and parallel with the cottage’s west side.

The Interior

     The interior of the cottage is simple. It is now divided into one room and a hall with a stairway. Originally one large ( 17’x28’) room, the space was dominated by the exactly centered 5’x8’ walnut mantled cooking fireplace and hearth. Part of the narrow (4”) single beaded baseboard remains to the rear of the room behind and next to the relocated stairway. The walls are plastered, the floor has variable width (6”-10”) boards. The hearth’s stone foundation is preserved beneath the flooring and the walnut mantle was discovered in an adjacent shed.      

                                                                        
      The second floor was recently divided into two living spaces and a hall. When built, the finished rear sleeping room was reached by an exterior stair on the west side of the house. Baseboard remnants, like those of the first floor remain in place. The front room was an unfinished space entered by a door in the central dividing wall. Whitewash remains on the walls with fragments from a January 29, 1868 (Cincinnati, Ohio ?) newspaper adhering to it. The paper reports ongoing Reconstruction in South Carolina and President Grant’s problems with the Radical Republicans in Missouri. While removing the newer wall that formed a hall on the second floor, a slightly charred, weathered, square toed shoe last was discovered above the door. It had been placed there and the wall finished around it. We are told that this was good luck.                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                Wallpaper c.1830