Brubacher House was built in 1850 and is therefore prone to the normal issues of an old farmhouse. While living there, the hosts have encountered many memorable mishaps and different kinds of rodents.
A water-filled basement and other weather mishaps
“Lots of basement flooding! Luckily, we never had to cancel any events or rentals, but we came close a few times. We bought a snow shovel that we used to push the water into the room with the brick floor.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“...lots of basement flooding.”
Allison and Mark Brubacher (2009-2013)
Dorothy Bean had several entries in her daily diary about the water and weather problems at Brubacher House:
- December 6, 1982: Water in basement.
- December 21, 1982: I fell on my butt while getting mail.
- December 27, 1982: Vacuumed 15 pails of water from the basement floor.
- December 28, 1982: Picked up 13 pails of water in basement.
- March 7, 1983: Car snowed in so took the bus to church.
- November 28, 1983: Windy. Hydro off for 45 minutes.
- February 25, 1985: U.W. men came to clean up water in basement. Ida made a fire to dry out the brick floor.
- April 8, 1985: Telephone got fixed. It had been hit by lightning. U.W. men came and to mop up water.
- June 29, 1986: Fed geese and walked around golf course. Rain and hail storm came up and blew the door shut and all were locked out in the storm.
Howard and Carol Gimbel (1991-1994)
“There was a spring-time meeting of a historical group in the basement meeting room. As they left, one of the cars got stuck in the mud and most of the attendees ended up in my bedroom, which was where the phone was, to call a tow truck.”
Nancy and Ted Maitland (1977-1982)
Unexpected guests
In 1984, Dorothy Bean wrote in her daily diary about Brubacher House garden mischief:
- June 15: Rabbit ate off my beans in garden.
- June 22: Rabbit ate off peas and beets.
Dorothy Bean and Ida Habermehl (1982-1986)
“We had a groundhog die under the porch which smelled awful and needed to be removed. Other than that, LOTS of voles...”
Allison and Mark Brubacher (2009-2013)
“Squirrels took up residence in the attic. They chewed a huge hole in the northwest corner of the eaves and we often saw several coming in and out at the same time. They might even have had a litter up there before pest control showed up.”
Colin and Jennie Wiebe (2000-2004)
“LOTS! Animal control was called frequently - though often we had to manage the nuisance ourselves (as U of W had the House low on their priority) - squirrels in the attic, raccoon under the front steps, bat in the house, several birds in the house, and MANY mice in the walls and basement. Mice was the constant issue - we always heard them in the walls and 4-5 basement traps were often full in the morning.”
Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp (1994-2000)
“Over the years, various birds have also found their way into the house, and we’ve had to guide them back outside again. But last year, we were very startled when Josh discovered a bat flying around our apartment! It must have come down the chimney, as we discovered that we had left the floo open. Oran and I shut ourselves into the bedroom and luckily Joshua was able to quickly coax the bat downstairs and out the door (while wearing protective headgear).”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“We relocated 25+ chipmunks from under back steps, helped starlings caught in the furnace, and used moth balls to help get rid of skunks from under the front porch. The house always had plenty of mice and the Abell Pest Control worker was a frequent visitor.”
Bethany and Brandon Leis (2006-2009)
Bird on cedar shakes, 2007.
Bethany and Brandon Leis (2006-2009)
“One time, we found a garter snake curled up along the edge of the basement! It must have come in looking for warmth. Good thing we had decided to do a double-check of the event space before opening it up for the rental group that had booked that night. It was wintertime, and the snake was in partial hibernation, so it didn’t move too much when we scooped it into a box. We named it “John E” and gave it to a friend who was an outdoor educator with the school board.” Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
Furnaces and fires
“The furnace quit a few times on some very cold winter days.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“There was a crack in the firebox of the furnace and we found out when the furnace turned on in September, ejecting soot throughout the entire house. EVERYTHING, including artifacts and our possessions, needed to be professionally cleaned.”
Bethany and Brandon Leis (2006-2009)
“There was a fire in the museum’s dumpster in May 2009. We never found out the cause of the fire.”
Bethany and Brandon Leis (2006-2009)
“In Winter 2018, some electrical wires caught on fire underground and we experienced a power outage for 5.5 days. The university provided us with a generator while they completed repairs.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“Near the beginning of our time as hosts, there was an electrical issue, and we were unable to use the stove. Joshua cooked in a cast iron pot over the fire in the basement summer kitchen for two weeks while we waited for a replacement! It was a good introduction to the Brubacher lifestyle, although he was grateful to see the new stove when it came.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
Other interesting stories
“Our biggest "mishap" might have been the brief period of time when a group wanted to film a movie in the Brubacher House. This is quite a long story, but in summary the group ended up not being the right fit for Brubacher House (ie: it turned out to be a horror film and they wanted to use all the artifacts as props..... hmm) and we decided to let them know it wasn't going to work out on our end. That led to some very interesting interactions, though we are grateful that Paul Penner at Grebel helped us navigate that situation!”
Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)
Dorothy Bean wrote about breaking into the museum after getting locked out:
- July 23, 1983: Locked myself out of house. Came in the window.
Dorothy Bean and Ida Habermehl (1982-1986)
“Once we looked up and there was a small child just standing in our apartment; apparently the door had not been locked on the main floor after our tour hours ended. It was a bit startling, and ended up being a very interesting tour with her family. They were from Sarasota, Florida, and had Brubacher Family connections (or… so they claimed!).”
Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)
“In one of our first weeks as hosts, we managed to lock the door to the upstairs while we were cleaning the basement. We didn't realize that the door would lock behind us! Outside, the snow had just barely melted, and we didn't have phones with us, or even shoes or coats. We must have seemed very strange when we walked into the nearby CIF building barefoot, asking to use the phone.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“This did not work out, but we almost had an episode of 'Murdoch Mysteries' filmed at the house while we lived there.”
Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)
“For several years before they connected the house to the main sanitation line on North Campus (which didn’t exist when the house was re-built), we had continual issues with the septic system. It always seemed to fail when we had large events, like the Sledding Extravaganza with 200 attendees, or a kids’ March Break Camp. Inevitably, we ended up opening up our apartment washroom to guests when the basement one would fail. It was interesting to see their expressions when they saw the Host Apartment.”
Laura and Joshua Enns (2017-present)
“One time we went down to the basement, and the floor was missing bricks and there was a groundhog sized hole. We never caught the culprit.”
Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)
“One night some teenagers rang the doorbell repeatedly at about 1 a.m., not realizing anyone lived there. They got quite a fright when I appeared at the door!”
Nancy and Ted Maitland (1977-1982)
Sunset, 1994.
Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp (1994-2000)
“Here is a view from our living room on a busy sports evening. Someone took up a whole parking spot with that little yellow truck. This was our first month living at BHouse in 2013.”
Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)