Pfarr Log House

About this property

The Pfarr Log House (also known locally as the Wiederhold Log Cabin after its final owner) was a log cabin located in an isolated valley near the village of Milford in rural Clermont County, Ohio, United States. Built in the early nineteenth century, it provided a pivotal representation of the area's earliest built environment, and it has been named a historic site. This cabin was known primarily as a property of the Pfarr family because it was purchased by George Pfarr in late 1840 as part of a 21-acre homestead, and it remained in the Pfarr family until it was sold to Jim Wiederhold in 1976. George, a butcher and farmer, immigrated from Bavaria with his wife and three children, and the property was actively farmed until the 1960s by his children and grandchildren. Current status unknown, but it is no longer standing in its original location next to Shayler Run creek. (Picture and pinned location are incorrect. See below.) Although primarily a log building, the house rests on a stone foundation; the roof is metal, constructed with a very shallow pitch from the edge to the peaks of the gables. The structure is one and a half stories tall with walls built of square-cut timbers, rather than unhewn logs. The joints between the timbers feature a construction method known as "steeple notching", which was often employed in buildings constructed before 1825. Comparatively little is known of the house's early history before the terminus ante quem of construction, 1825; a precise date of construction has not been established, and the builder's name is similarly unknown. A newer farmhouse was built next to the cabin in the early 1900s, and when the Pfarrs expanded this newer residence, the cabin was moved in 1910 to make room. In September 1977, the Pfarr Log House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; despite having been moved in 1910, it qualified because of its historically significant architecture. the Pfarr Log House is on the National registry but the picture and google pin currently on this post is not accurate. the log cabin on Olive Branch Stonelick Rd is a completely unrelated structure built by Mr. Damn as part of his pay lake in the early 1930's from logs harvested from the surrounding property. The Pfarr Log House was actually located at approximately 39.10808608543079, -84.22685352963514 on the banks of Shayler Run creek. However, the Pfarr Log House is no longer standing at or near this location and may have been destroyed. Locals say that some or all of the structure might have been saved and moved to another location in pieces. At this time the fate of the log house is unknown.

Location

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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