The Wallhaus Building

The Wallhaus Building. 129 South Main Street. , Henry Wallhaus was born on April 7, 1847 in Daenkershausen, Germany. His family emigrated to the U.S. in 1855and settled in the Columbia, Illinois area. Shortly after, the Wallhaus' bought a farm in the Foster Pond area. Henry farmed his father 's place until about 1882, when he opened a hardware shop at 216 South Main Street in Waterloo. It was called the H. Wallhaus Hardware and Cutlery Store. Before Waterloo was incorporated in1888, Wallhaus was a member of the town board. He was city treasure during the mayorship of George C. Gauen, who was the first mayor of Waterloo, Wallhaus was also a school trustee., On September 18, 1908, Henry purchased this building at 129 South Main Street, and moved his hardware store here. Historical records do not tell us when exactly the building was erected, but it is believed that before this time previous owners used it as a residential home. Henry's son Herman helped his father in the store for several years, eventually taking over the operation., When Henry died at the age of seventy-five in 1927, he left the building to his wife Catherine. She passed away two years later and their son, Herman and his wife Alyda inherited the building., Herman and Alyda continued the business, and lived up stairs with their family for many years. Their daughter, Jean Stogner, remembered the building with a door in the middle that led upstairs to where they lived. The store had coal stoves to help keep the place warm since they did not heating, but they did have running water. There were two sides to the store and in the middle, there was a door that went down to the cellar, where the store inventory was kept. The backside of the building used to have a porch on the second level, but it was taken down. In the backyard, you could find another small house that was Alyda's washhouse, a wine cellar and a warehouse for the store., When Herman and Alyda were ready to retire, Jean was too young to take over the store, and her sisters were much older and already married and move away. So after fifty-five years of ownership by the Wallhaus family, the building was sold to Kenneth Jeannette Kelly in 1964., The building was then leased to several proprietors. Adam and Mary Anders operated a tavern. Between 1972 and 1980 it was home to a restaurant called Ray and Vera's. Then from 1980 to 1996 it was a pub called 21st Amendment, operated by Burch Kunkel and E.J. Schwager. In 1997, the Toals managed a restaurant and bar named Toaly's. By this time the upstairs was converted into two apartments and the Toal's lived in one of them., In 2001, Kenneth Kelly Jr. sold the building to Joseph and Jeanette Schneider, who still owns this property today. The Schneider's continued to lease the space to various proprietors – including Uptown Yoga and Gail's Coins and Collectables. The building is currently home to Quadrant Design Architects and Planners, managed by Mike Schneider and Keller Williams Marquee, Amy Hanks Real Estate Team.