The Gehlen House and Barn are historic buildings located in

St. Donatus, Iowa St. Donatus is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 120 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. St. Donatus (AKA "Ocho Casera") is known for its status as a Luxembourger village ...

, United States. Both buildings were built by Peter Gehlen (originally Jahlen), an immigrant from Luxembourg who settled in this area in 1846. He built a flour mill on the Tetes des Mortes Creek in 1848. As other immigrants from Luxembourg settled here they built distinctive houses from the local limestone. Of these the Gehlen house was the most significant. with It is located at a crossroads, and because of its size it served as a community center. At one time or another it served as the post office, hotel, and general store. The exterior of the stone house is covered with plaster and features many windows and doorways on the long side, narrow

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

, a low-pitched

jerkinhead A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

, and a rear wing. The barn, which sits immediately behind the house is significant as one of the few stone barns in Iowa. The house and barn were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and were included as contributing properties in the Village of St. Donatus Historic District in 1989.

References

Houses completed in 1860 Buildings and structures completed in 1860 Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Barns on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Buildings and structures in Jackson County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Iowa {{JacksonCountyIA-NRHP-stub