Bonde Farmhouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Bonde Farmhouse
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The Bonde Farmhouse from the west-northwest
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Nerstrand, Minnesota |
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| Area | 2.4 acres (0.97 ha) |
| Built | 1875 |
| MPS | Rice County MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 82003023 |
| Added to NRHP | April 6, 1982 |
The Bonde Farmhouse is an old house in Wheeling Township, Minnesota. It's near a town called Nerstrand. This special house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It's important because a well-known Norwegian family lived there. It's also special because it was built using local limestone and is still in great shape today.
Contents
What Does the Bonde Farmhouse Look Like?
The Bonde Farmhouse sits on a hilltop. This makes it easy to spot and an important part of the farm. The house is made of strong stone from Nerstrand and Faribault. It has two and a half stories and is shaped like an "L".
The house has windows with stone sills and lintels. A lintel is a strong piece of stone or wood above a window or door. Small, curved windows are in the pointed parts of the roof, called gable ends. The front porch has fancy posts and decorations. It stretches across the front part of the house. In 1960, a garage and a small addition were built at the back.
Other Buildings on the Farm
Four other farm buildings were built by Tosten Bonde. He wrote down when he built them in his journal. These buildings include:
- A gambrel-roofed barn from 1870. A gambrel roof has two different slopes on each side.
- A machine shed from 1883, which later became a garage.
- A granary from 1886, used for storing grain.
- A milk house from 1887.
These buildings were also important enough to be listed with the farmhouse.
Who Lived at the Bonde Farm?
The land for the farm was first settled by Einer Bonde. He moved from Norway with his family in 1854. They wanted to farm in the Midwest. After living in Iowa for a year, they settled in Wheeling Township in 1855. Many other Norwegian families lived there too.
Einer's son, Tosten, took over the farm in 1865. He built the large farmhouse in 1875. Tosten Bonde was a very successful farmer. He kept detailed notes about his farm, buildings, and family in a journal.
Tosten Bonde's Community Role
Tosten Bonde was a very important person in the Norwegian community around Nerstrand. He helped start the Wheeling Mutual Insurance Company in 1876. He also served in the Minnesota State Legislature. He was a Representative for two terms. Then, he was a State Senator for two terms. This shows how much he helped his community.
The Bonde Farmhouse shows how well early Norwegian farmers did. They worked hard to clear the land and make it into farms. The area around Nerstrand became a strong community of Norwegian Americans. Even when the house was listed as historic, Bonde family members still ran the insurance company. They also still farmed the original land and lived in the stone house.
