Kluge House, also known as Maverick House, is a rare example of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

fachwerk Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

, log and half-timber construction, located in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

. In mid-1964 the home was almost destroyed as a fire hazard as it had fallen into disrepair and transients were living in it. A shed is attached to the north side of the house. The second floor was built in 1882. Prior to that Kluge had apparently done significant work on the original cabin's first floor, which has hewn squared logs. The second floor is half-timber filled in with bricks. The second floor diagonal logs brace the framing logs. The overall dimensions of the house are 30'-11" x 16'-4" with a foundation of stone found locally. There are front and rear doors on the first floor. The front door is asymmetrically located and the rear door is near a corner. The second floor is reached only via an exterior staircase. The house has a brick fireplace. The first floor has an entrance vestibule and two rooms of dissimilar size. The smaller room has a hatch leading to a cellar. The second floor has a floor plan that is very similar to that of the first floor but it is reversed, i.e., two rooms and a vestibule. Floors are wooden. Emil Kluge was born March 28, 1845, in Prussia. Kluge served in the infantry, in both the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, in the latter of which he was wounded. Kluge and his family came to America from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1871, first settling in Detroit, Michigan for two years, and then Helena, Montana, arriving on May 3, 1873. At that time, the family moved into this house, which was an abandoned miner's cabin. Kluge worked mostly as a contractor, but also as a gold prospector, constable, and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. He was an officer in one of Helena's

Masonic lodges A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

and was a member of the Odd Fellows. Kluge resided in Helena until his death, September 26, 1924.

References

External links

Good color photo of Kluge House in winter
{{National Register of Historic Places German-American culture in Montana Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana German-American history Silesian-American history Timber framed buildings in the United States Houses in Lewis and Clark County, Montana National Register of Historic Places in Helena, Montana Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Houses completed in 1882

See also

References

External links