| Additional Information: | 2 STORY BAY ON SIDE
2023: The Thomas Farmhouse, is a c. 1873, two-and-one-half-story vernacular house with Queen Anne influences. The house has a rectangular footprint, is constructed of load-bearing brick walls, and has an asphalt shingled mansard roof with a central brick chimney. There is a two-story cutaway bay window on the south (side) elevation. It is topped by a half-hip roof that is centered below a gabled roof dormer. There are also gabled dormers centered on the façade (east) and west (rear) elevations.
The main entrance is located slightly off-center on the westernmost bay of the façade; it is topped by a half-hip roof that is supported by simple wood posts and railings that rest on a concrete foundation with steps. Both the façade and rear elevation consist of three bays that each contain one-over-one, replacement windows on the first and second stories. Windows on the façade are square and have flat brick lintels and smooth stone sills. Windows on the rest of the elevations are arched and have segmental brick arches and smooth stone sills.
There is a secondary entrance on the south elevation; it is topped by a half-hip roof that is supported by simple wood posts and railings that rest on a concrete foundation with steps. Adjacent to the door is a one-over-one, replacement window. Above the entrance, on the second story, are two, evenly spaced, one-over-one, replacement windows. There is a one-story, garage addition extending from the north (side) elevation. It is of brick construction and has a side-gabled, asphalt shingle roof.
To the north and east of the house are the remnants of the original farmstead. Extant structures include two frame outbuildings, a slipform silo, and a stave silo with a metal dome roof. Stone building foundations remain as well.
The Thomas farmstead was established by John Thomas, who emigrated from Wales with his family in 1838. The family briefly resided in Utica, New York before eventually settling on a farmstead on Section 23 in Delafield in 1844. The family was part of the first wave of Welsh immigrants who settled in Waukesha County.
One of John’s sons, Owen, inherited the property upon John’s death in 1854. In 1866, Owen Thomas left the family farm and lived periodically in central Wisconsin and Iowa. He married Elizabeth Arthur in 1871 and the two returned to the farmstead in 1873, where they constructed the stately brick home and agricultural outbuildings.
Owen’s son, Robert, purchased the neighboring farmstead (AHI #7517) in c. 1912.
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