Description of Historic Place

Zoeller House, located at 2791 Bleams Road East, is situated on the south side of Bleams Road East, north of Witmer Road and west of Wilmot Centre Road, in the Village of New Hamburg, now the Township of Wilmot. Zoeller House is a two-storey residence, that was constructed in 1873.

The property was designated by the Township of Wilmot, in 1997, for its heritage value or interest, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act (By-law 97-27).

Heritage Value

The prominent Zoeller family lived in Wilmot Township and for over 130 years four generations of the Zoeller family lived in the Zoeller House. Originally the property was a part of the German Block, in the Township of Wilmot, which was settled by Amish pioneers. A crown patent to the land was given to Ulrich Geiger, an ordained minister, in 1834. Geiger cleared the land and built a log house, which is now covered with brick. It is still located on the property. By 1852 Geiger was married to a Zoeller and through this relationship he sold the land to Valentine Zoeller. Valentine farmed the land for 20 years before selling it to his son Henry, who built the main house, in 1873. Henry, who was the first of the Zoeller politicians, was educated in Wilmot Centre and elected to the council of Wilmot Township, in 1896. In 1901, he was elected Reeve and served until 1910, which was the longest term in that office in the history of the Township. Henry in turn sold his estate to his son Valentine Zoeller, who followed in his father's footsteps as a Township Councillor from 1919 until 1924. He was also a Deputy Reeve and County Councillor until 1928 when he became Reeve, a position he held until 1932. The property came into the hands of Austin Zoeller, Valentine's son, in 1955, who upheld the family tradition of public service by serving as Councillor for a year on the Wilmot Township Council.

The Zoeller House is a fine example of the Gothic/Picturesque style of architecture and is also notable for its excellent brick work. The house is two-storeys in height with a three bay facade. Its picturesque qualities are exemplified by its triple front gables with pointed arch bays. Of note is the brick frieze made of projecting yellow-brick with red-brick cross-shaped indents that follow a horizontal course below the gables. The Gothic windows have projecting yellow-brick frames, which is common to all the windows. The walls are red-brick in a modified Flemish bond, with a pattern of one row of Flemish to each three of stretcher bond. There are yellow-bricks at intervals along the walls with cross-shaped indents. At the corners there are projecting yellow-brick quoining as well as a plinth. The eave line is a boxed cornice, with plain frieze, and the three gables have bargeboard and finials. The east and west elevations are identical and the house has a fieldstone foundation.

Source: Township of Woolwich, By-law 97-27.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the Zoeller House include its:
- date stone reading “H. Zoeller 1873” located at the peak of the centre bay projection of the north elevation
- situation on land owned by four generations of the Zoeller family
- situation on part of the German Block that was settled by Amish pioneers.
- construction using local bricks from the Adamson and Cole Brickyard
- three gables on the north facade
- boxed cornice with plain frieze on the eave line
- bargeboard and finials on the three front gables
- horizontal brick frieze below the gables
- yellow-brick framing on all the Gothic windows
- modified Flemish bond on north facade
- projecting yellow-brick quoining and plinth
- cross-shaped indents in the yellow and red-brick
- flat arch bay windows with voussoir heads on the east and west elevation
- original chimney on the west side of the roof
- fieldstone foundation