If the Rosholt House walls could talk

be certain that the next owner of the home shared his passion for the homes history. Over the past few years, Glen made numerous trips to Rosholt from his home in Over the past few years, a small number of Moscow, Idaho, to work on his beloved project. local residents have been fortunate to have The extended Rosholt family, including a known Glen Lockery, grandson of village number of Glens nieces and nephews and their patriarch, John Gilbert (J.G.) Rosholt. Glen was spouses, visited Rosholt as well during those the owner of the family home, Rosholt House, years. I have had the good fortune to spend time which stands on South Main Street. with the family, usually in the house, and have For many years, the Rosholt House was witnessed the affection they each have for the managed by Glens bother, Don, but when Don home and the village. passed away, Glen returned to his hometown to Family members have spent many hours take care of Dons affairs. He also spent time cleaning and poring through the contents of the reevaluating the house. They, too, support future of his stately the idea of turning the home and considered home into a museum to a number of options, serve as a focal point for including selling the activities and historic home. Ultimately, his preservation. greatest desire was to Though Glen has donate the home and passed, his wishes were have it preserved as a recorded in writing. Glens museum. estate is now under the In order to reach control of his family and his goal, Glen took they hope to see Glens efforts to restore the wishes followed. However, porch to its original the family needs the help of The west wall of the living room in the Rosholt state and to have the the local community to join House was painted by Mabel Rosholt Lockery. It home accepted into in the effort and commit to depicts the scene of Rosholt as viewed out the the National Register preserving the Rosholt north window of the home, looking towards the of Historic Homes. House for generations to Mill Pond, when she was a younger woman. The He succeeded on come. painting is in nearly pristine condition and truly both accounts. Glen gives a visitor to the Rosholt House a sense of As a member of the both Mabel's artistic talents as well as the also took steps to community and an advocate sentiment she had for the village in its early days. initiate the process of for the Rosholt House, I feel The beautiful preservation of the painting is a ensuring that the blessed to have inherited the testament to the Rosholt family's commitment to home would become trust of Glen and his and respect for their past. the property of a Hisextended Rosholt family as Staff Photo toric Society. As an we pursue the goal of accepted property, Rosholt House. Ive toured the Rosholt House could then be used as a key the house a number of times and Ive always component in preserving and retelling the come away with a sense of not only the family history of the Village of Rosholt. that has made its mark inside the house but also Sadly, Glens last wish for the Rosholt House a sense of how the village has grown up around was not fulfilled before his death in December this home. of 2011, though not for lack of effort on his part. Let me take you on a bit of a walk through Glen had a vision for the home and he wanted to the halls of the home. By KATE ZDROIK and XIMENA CHRISTIANSON The Rosholt Record

One of the community members I have recruited to help with the preservation of the Rosholt House is Ximena Christianson. Ximena moved to Rosholt in June 2010 when her husband, Marc, was hired as the new superintendent of the Rosholt School District. Ximena is an architect and, as such, has a keen eye for the beauty of structures. She spotted the home immediately when searching for a home for her family, only to learn about Glens plans for the home. In the fall of 2011, Ximena toured the beautiful home for the first time. After the tour, she wrote down her impressions of the home. She wanted to be able to share her thoughts with the rest of the community and hoped to inspire others to join in the Rosholt House project. The following is what she recorded after her tour (with some additions from me). October 12, 2011 My dream came true! I went in the house with Kate Zdroik and Lee Kluck. We were greeted by Glen, the grandson of J.G. Rosholt, now age 93. With a lot of pride and a candid expression, Glen provided us with the most insightful story of how his grandfather left his mark all around us; on our village, our school, our parks and more. We listened with admiration to the stories of his childhood and how in 1930 he came to live with his parents in grandpas house. We did not get a tour of the house this day since Glen cannot climb the stairs these days, but made arrangements for a full tour with Mrs. Betty Williams. When the day arrived, I walked in through the large covered front porch with the ornate Corinthian columns. I noticed the floor was freshly restored. Later, Glen showed me three pictures of the house. The first one showed the house in its original attire. The second one was taken after his mother had the entry enclosed as a three-season porch and a balcony on the south side converted into a bumped out window. A third photo was of the house today, with the porch brought back to its original splendor. Glen went on to tell me that he had found the original columns and balustrade under the porchs floor and that he restored the look of the latticework as well. It sounded like he had a lifetime commitment to this structure a whole

life full of memories! I realized that many stories are locked inside these walls. The tour began on the beautiful front stairs made of gorgeous maple wood, still intact. Glen has a grin on his face. He never quite liked those stairs because he could not slide all the way down. The stairs are actually three banks of stairs. As you go up, the first landing holds a seating bay flanked with three gorgeous beveled glass windows. The ceiling of the bay is arched and finished with the original plaster. At the top of the stairs, a long hallway leads to five bedrooms and a sitting room that faces the front of the house. Each room seems to have its own personality, its own contact with the past and its own story to tell. Several generations have gone by, yet, the original antique iron beds are perfectly preserved. The beautiful maple floors are covered with inlaid linoleum probably placed there to buffer the noise of little children running through the halls. The print on these floors is so beautiful, though some of them have been worn out with time, particularly in front of the dressers. Perhaps this is where one lady stood many times in the past looking at herself in the same mirror. I could see myself transported in time! In one bedroom there are remnants of the kitchen that was created for Dorothea Rosholt, J.G.'s third wife. Dorothea remained living in the house with her daughter, Mabel, and Mabel's family until she died. The kitchen was created as a convenience for Dorothea. From the second floor, we went to the attic. The back stairs are a little steeper, yet made of beautiful wood. The space up there basically is open but there is a smaller area to the back of the house with built-in drawers, and a large room to the left that has been painted a turquoise color. This back room was used as a bedroom at one point. I am told Glens mother, Mabel, used to have tea parties up here in the big room. The attic was decked out with oriental decorations and the ladies who attended wore geisha clothes. It looks like Mabel was a character. She threw quite a few balls and the most prominent families in the area would attend. Those were grand days! On the way back downstairs, we spotted the bath. Glen mentioned that he totally modernized

the bathroom a few years ago, but that the clawfoot tub is still in one of the bedrooms. Maybe he never felt convinced that this new look would stay in style for long. I lifted the blankets covering the tub and noticed that the porcelain is as perfect and shiny as the way it was since the very first bath. What a mission we have, I thought. The very first thing we must do is place the tub back where it belongs and all the other pieces that are now gone must reunite! Boy oh boy! I have only covered half the house and I am on my second page. Kate will have to edit this whole thing if she wants to put it in the paper. Although, who cares? After all, I am writing this whole experience with only one person in mind Glen. Why? Because he asked. His expression questioning, do you see why I believe this house is worth this effort? Do you think this house is unique enough to be of any special value? Without hesitation, I said yes. But it is what the house represents that is most valuable Glens story, his grandpas story and Mrs. Lockerys story. All are unique. The house is a symbol, and our mission is to make this a monument that will tell the story, a story that is so dear and close to us because it was the beginning of where we are. Now, well cover the main floor. Lets go back to the front door, since our tour landed us in the kitchen through the back stairway. There is a front foyer and to the left is the parlor. There are a couple of photographs on the wall of and a beautiful antique couch original to the house. There is a pocket door in the parlor that leads to the living room. On the living room wall is a mural that Glens mother painted many, many years ago. The mural shows the scene Mabel remembered seeing asshe looked north towards the millpond when she was a young girl. The trees that once were there are no longer around. From the living room, there are doublepocket doors into the dining room. I believe this is the largest room in the house. It has a big window to the north. The table is massive and all the furniture is original oak. There is not one scratch on the original varnish! The built-in oak china armoire is still full of the family heirloom

pieces. This makes me wonder, What were the familys favorite meals? Around the dining room, pieces of painted dinnerware can be found on the walls, in cupboards and on shelves. It was painted by Mabel, the artist. These cups, plates and dishes remind us of her love for and need to paint wherever and whenever she could. Lastly, we enter the kitchen. I notice the pivot door into the room is oak on the dining room side and pine on the kitchen side. The kitchen has been renovated to fit a modern lifestyle, yet the original tongue-and-groove pine wainscoting remains intact. Also, only one of the original Hoosier armoires is still there. Glen said that there are others at the lake cabin he owns, as well as the original ice box. He also said there used to be a large cast-iron sink by the window. No one knows where it went. The piece de resistance that truly marks the lives that have passed through the halls of this home is on the narrow wall between the kitchen and back hallway. It is a wall full of marks noting the height of nearly every child in the Rosholt family that has lived in or visited the home. There are so many names, that they overlap one another, just as the generations of the family have overlapped one another in this home. As I start to make my departure, Glen reminisces about his grandpas chair and how when they were children grandpa had them sit on his leg and play horse. He also told me the story of how he used to play on the shelf of grandpas desk. The shelf was long gone, but Glen, as an adult, had a furniture restorer put the shelf back in there! This is Glen a strong love for his family, his traditions and his memories. He honored the past by restoring the old desk he used to lie on. He wants to pass that love onto us, and we are listening. As anyone who has ever been inside the Rosholt House knows, this home represents more than the history of a family - it also reflects the history of the entire village. As J.G. built his sawmill, his bank and his home, he made sure that the village prospered around him as well. J.G. donated land for the current school, the beautiful Fair Park, Concordia Church and cemetery and more. The village namesake was deliberate and generous in what he gave back to

the community that came to be the place he called home. It is now time for our community to work together to preserve his legacy by preserving the memories the home contains and by welcoming everyone to come inside and share in its spirit. It is hoped the home will become part of a larger historical society, whose mission is to preserve and retell the history of the entire community, both inside and outside the village limits. The society would include the Rosholt Pioneer Museum in promoting historic visits to the Rosholt area. If this story has piqued your interest in history and you would like to be involved in planning events to take place in the home, then please call Ximena Christianson at 715-6776700 or Kate Zdroik at 715-677-3030. The extended Rosholt family is counting on the community to step up to help them maintain and share their family's treasured home. Among the things a local group must do at this time is to define ways the home will be used in the future and to draw up ideas of how the group plans to financially support the on-going maintainance of the home. Glen envisioned activities like ice cream socials, music recitals and history or culture lectures. Please help make his vision a reality by stepping up and joining the group now. As the saying goes "The more, the merrier."