Jonathan Clark House Museum
Naming Opportunities
Keeping Room
Parlour
Jonathan’s Office
Hired Man’s Bedroom
History Library & Museum Office
Handicap Access Area
Patio and Reception Terrace
Historic Nature Gardens and Walk
$100,000
$50,000
Sommer’s Automotive
$25,000
Memory of George & Virgilee Krueck
Bock Family
$15,000
$50,000
The Keeping Room is where the Clark family gathered and spent most of their time together.
This is where Mary cooked their meals, the children played and Jonathan kept a generous
supply of wood next to the open fireplace and later, the cook stove. The fireplace and stove
were used for cooking as well as heat for the first floor of the house.
The Museum uses the Keeping Room as a central gathering point for all visitors. With its
authentic mid-19th century furnishings it creates the important first impression and sets the
atmosphere of a home of early Mequon and Thiensville settlers. Young people participating in
school activities are encouraged to imagine what it would have been like to grow up in the Clark
family home with eight children.
The Parlour is the room the Clark family used as their formal living space. With its sunny
southern exposure the front door of this room certainly is a grand entrance into the house. The
original woodwork is a distinctive style of Greek revival architecture for which the house is wellknown. The Parlour is a unique small meeting room with an inspiring historic atmosphere.
The corner cupboard, large cherry gate-leg drop-leaf table and Windsor chairs give the room
essential flexibility.
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Jonathan Clark was a leader in the early days of the community. He joined his father-in-law
Peter Turck and friend William Bonniwell in the creation of the first school house in the Town of
Mequon, was the first road supervisor in the area, and most importantly was the head of his
household and farm. Jonathan’s Office, a gift from Sommer’s Automotive is the Museum’s
recreation of the vital office functions fitting an ambitious young community leader. Because of
its proximity to the house’s grand front entrance it is a premier room of the house. It is likely
that many community decisions and transactions were made in his office as well as in the
Parlour.
Just off of the Keeping Room is a smaller window-lit room with a pleasant eastern exposure.
When furnished this Hired Man’s Bedroom will give visitors and school groups a feel for the
simple furnishings that were common in a mid-19th century farm home.
Sometime after the original 1848 section of the house was built a north addition was
constructed. When the Doyle family lived in the house they used the first room in the addition
as their kitchen. The room is now known as the Krueck History Library and is named after
George and Virgilee Krueck in honor of their dedication to local education. This room will also
house the Museum office and local history book collection.
The second room in the addition, the Handicap Access Area, will include handicap accessible
restroom facilities. Of course, Jonathan, Mary and their eight children did not have the luxury
of indoor plumbing, but the ADA compliant fixtures and floor plan will enable all visitors to use
the facility. The adjacent multi-use space will serve as a preparation area for volunteer staff.
The museum’s handicap entrance door will open into this room. This area is named in honor of
the financial generosity of the David and Frederick Bock Families.
The handicap accessible entrance will be located at the west side Patio and Reception Terrace.
Visitors, meeting room guests and volunteers can step outside to relax and enjoy the gardens
and beauty of the house’s exterior. In addition, it will be an excellent area for youth activities.
The Historic Nature Gardens and Walk are the intriguing farm yard and woods of the early
Clark settlers. An upcoming study will examine the placement of the farm buildings such as
smoke house, chicken coop, and yes, the privy. A history-based landscape design plan has been
developed by Milwaukee Area Technical College Landscape Design students. Visitors to the
museum will enjoy strolling through the beautiful gardens and wooded nature walk.
For more information contact:
www.jonathanclarkhouse.org
jchmuseum@gmail.com
262-618-2051
Dr. Nina Look, Museum Director
August 2015