Historic Shadow Lawn Farm Receives Plaque
Family, friends, neighbors and village officials gathered in June to celebrate as the Germantown Historic Preservation Commission presented an historic property plaque to Mark and Chris Kauth. They are the present owners of the homestead that was founded by Mark's great-great grandfather.
Mark, Chris and their children are the fifth and sixth generations of Kauths to live on the homestead. It was founded by Philip Kauth when he purchased 120 acres, in Section 3, at the General Land Office in Milwaukee on February 10, 1845 for $1.25 an acre.
Philip built a log home on this land and in July of the following year married Catherine Lebkuechler. The marriage ceremony was performed by Father Xavier Obermueller. Father Obermueller was the first German priest trained and ordained in the Milwaukee diocese. His first assignment was St. Boniface, which at that time was a newly built small log church and the parish included the entire southeast section of Washington County.
The present house is not the original home on the property. A newspaper article in 1889 reported that "the dwelling house of Philp Kauth (Jr.) was destroyed by fire last Friday noon while he and his wife had gone to Cedarburg to market. His mother, a lady 82 years of age and two of his children were in the house at the time. The fire was caused by an overheated chimney." The new late Victorian style house was built in 1893.
The homestead acquired its name in the 1930's when Mark's grandfather would go to market in Milwaukee with produce and had the name "Shadow Lawn Farm" painted on the side of his Model A panel truck.
The "pots" at the end of the driveway were salvaged by his grandfather in 1946 from a plant in Grafton that made bombs during WWII. They were placed at the end of the driveway on each side and have remained there since. They have become a landmark on east Bonniwell Road.
Mark's father, Vernon, was involved with the politics of the Town of Germantown and later the incorporated Village of Germantown for over forty years. In the early 1950's town meetings were held at their home. Mark remembers as a small boy, lively discussions of town business held in their kitchen around the antique table that they still use today.
The Germantown Village Board approved the historic designation of the Philip Kauth Homestead in September of 2008. It is the fifth property in Germantown to receive this honor.
The purpose of the Germantown Historic Preservation Commission is to promote preservation and bring recognition to historic properties and sites within the village.
To learn more about other historic properties in Germantown visit the Historic Preservation Commission link at www.village.germantown.wi.us.
