The builder

Today I spent an amazing afternoon visiting with the builder and original owner of our house.  I could definitely tell by the way he talked about it that it was built with a lot of love. This was the first house Gerry Maier built after he started the business with his dad back in the early 60's. This was his and his wife's dream home. They moved in with 3 small children and lived here for about 12 years until his wife died of cancer.  He seemed very happy that I had taken the time to look him up and had given him the opportunity to visit.  Listening to his stories about the construction and their lives here really made me want to preserve this tiny part of Delafield history. As we walked around the house he pointed out a few things that had changed (very few), but mostly he recalled why he had done one thing or another -the house was built on a hill of rocks so he didn't need a sump pump or back in the day insulation was more expensive than heating the house (!) or what he liked most (the party room), or what he might have done differently - no log flooring in the entryway.

He also shared stories about the building of the house, like the time one of his workers gouged a spot in the master bathroom ceiling and Gerry told the worker that he would always think of him while brushing his teeth! :)

I learned that the original Deck was built around the tree on the north east the corner of the house, that the little bar on the lower level was once full size and that the tower room was added on for his oldest son, after they had added on the party room.

Gerry also told me that the house was written about in the Milwaukee Journal,  a few years after it was built. So that is my next investigation!