Netzley/Yender House

Netzley/Yender House. . , This house is an original Lisle farmhouse. In its 175 years of history, only two families lived in it. , , The Lisle area began being populated by non-native people after the signing of the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. In 1849, Jacob and Mary Netzley with their ten children moved from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and purchased land divided by the Southwest Plank Road (Ogden Avenue). The Netzley family were early non-native settlers and depended on their farm and weaving to feed and support their family. The family planted a sugar maple grove, an apple orchard and a grape vineyard. They kept farm animals such as cows and horses as well as bees. , , Their small home was destroyed by fire, shortly after moving here, and the family quickly rebuilt in three phases to create the large farmhouse we have today. The original section, the main floor hearth kitchen and two small bedrooms above was first to be rebuilt. Next was the four-square southeast section. It contains first and second floor bedrooms as well as a large parlor that was used to hold Church of the Brethren services. The tall windows and columns were a popular architectural style with early settlers. It also includes bee slots still seen on the east wall of the four-square addition. This allowed bees to keep warm in the winter and allowed the gardens to be pollinated much earlier in the spring season. The final section was the summer kitchen. it contains, at Mrs. Netzley's request, a huge fireplace, a beehive baking oven and a smokehouse all-in-one piece of masonry. , , In 1910, George Yender purchased the property from the Netzley family. Here, he and his wife, Mary raised four children. Both George and Mary immigrated to America as young children, George from Germany and Mary from Switzerland. In addition to farming, the Yenders' operated a dairy business and opened a grocery market in 1939 on Ogden Avenue across from their home. The Farmhouse exhibits Lisle's strong agricultural history as Lisle was a farming community and milk stop along the Burlington Railroad. Andy Yender, who was born in this house, donated the home to the Lisle Park District and it was moved to the museum campus in 1986. , , Also, in the house is a model railroad that run HO gauge trains with three-dimensional scenes from the Lisle area as well as other places along the Burlington Railroad. The model railroad was built and maintained by Lisle's Model Railroad Club.