The Evolution of the Preserve
by Ingrid Graham
1997 my friend, Olive Padden, showed me this picturesque parcel of land with its outstanding, immense stone bank barn. I was immediately captivated by its impressive beauty. Shortly after we purchased the property, my brother Rich Arnesen came to visit from Chicago, and he too fell in love with the property. To my delight he asked if he could up move into the farmhouse. Together we udpated and fixed up the farmhouse for his residence and he lived there for ten years until his death in 2008.
Starting with the repair of the roof and pointing on the Stone Bank Barn, we gradually made repairs to all the structures on the property, as well as a thorough study of each.
About fifty yards away from the barn, on a hillside overlooking Kreutz Creek, sat what looked like might be a log house, but in 1997 it was obscured beneath a red tin roof and layers of 20th century siding. Beginning in 2009, the roof and siding were carefully removed and to our delight there emerged an intact mid-18th century log house, complete with a very steep roof with a sweep or kick to its bottom edge.
Careful documentation of the log house ensued. Dimensions were recorded through architects’ drawings, and photographs were taken for the Preserve's archive. Over the subsequent four years, a thorough, clue-based restoration of the house proceeded, taking it back to its original early state, gradually removing the changes and additions that inhabitants had added over the preceding 250+ years.
With the careful guidance of Joseph Kindig III, and many other experts in the field of early Pennsylvania vernacular architecture, and the skillful work of artisans working in the time-honored manner of our predecessors, this unique example of 18th century life in Hellam, Pennsylvania was brought back into the daylight.
In 2010 the Kreutz Creek Foundation was formed, and an advisory board began meeting in 2012. The name was changed in 2013 to Historic Hellam Preserve. Several events have been hosted at the preserve, including a longrifle exhibit in 2018, several art shows by artist-in-residence Rob Evans, and several lectures on historic architecture. My deepest thanks and gratitude to the advisory board members who helped me guide the direction of the Preserve and its efforts through the years, from 2012 on: Judy Blakey, June Evans, Renee Patton Evans, Rob Evans, Cathy Imm Graham, Erik Graham, Kristin Graham, Sylvia Kindig, Brad Leber and Shirley Shipley.
While the Log House was the major restoration effort undertaken on the property, similar attention was given to the other structures on the site, the Stone Bank Barn, Springhouse, the Farmhouse and the other barns and outbuildings. Enjoy a Tour of the Preserve here with text written by historian, advisor to HHP, and our dear friend, Joe Kindig III.
To understand the history and context of Hellam, and to put the German settlement into historical context, we share this helpful background on Hellam's early history written by HHP board member and historian, June Evans, PhD.
