schmidt house museum

This old house will give you a taste of life in the past. Around the Christmas season you may find re-enactors strolling about representing people of the late 1800's to early 1900's. Well worth the visit and a slow walk around the garden.

We decided to stop at the Schmidt House as a breaking from driving and found the we had encountered and well preserved house from the turn of the last century. You go to the building next door to sign in. There was a little mixup about the charge as it was different from what was in the lastest guide book. They seemed reluctant to honor what was published. Once it was straigthened out, our guide took us through the house though for the beginning of the tour there was a shadow about the fee. The Schmidt's were German but met in California and had 5 children, one of whom die in infancy. He was a cabinet maker who soon found that the craft was not needed as mass produced furniture was readily available. So he worked in dry goods. The house itself is well preserved and has much of the family's goods. Of the children, the two girls did not marry and lived all there lives in the house. It was eventually donated with contents. In the upstairs room, you will see the girls room, and the boy's room now has the display of toys. You can see the wooden farmhouse that they played with as well as the cardboard solder set and an elaborate doll house. One of the interesting items is the children's high school diploma that includes their final years grade for each subject. You should alot 45 minutes at least for this visit.