a front view of the filed stone house, that is brubacher house

Life Upstairs: The People

A short timeline of Brubacher House hosts

Have you ever wanted to live in a museum? At Brubacher House, there have been many museum custodians and hosts who have lived in the upstairs apartment since 1977. Initially the Brubacher House committee sought “retired couples with an interest in the project” to fill the role as hosts, but then began hiring younger applicants interested in the position.

Throughout its years as a museum, Brubacher House has been filled with the laughter of families, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and even some children who were born there.

  1. 1977
    1. Nancy and Maitland, wearing bright red sweaters, smile for the camera
      Nancy and Ted Maitland

      1977-1982

      Nancy Saunders lived at Brubacher House as the first staff person on site. Her initial role was as live-in custodian and consultant/curator of the Mennonite Farmhouse. Nancy lived there before the museum was established in 1979. With a low-operating budget for this museum project, Conrad Grebel College altered her role to custodian responsibilities, in exchange for free rent at Brubacher House. The tours were conducted primarily by Lorna Bergey as well as other volunteers from the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. In 1980, Nancy married and lived with her husband Ted Maitland in the apartment until 1982.

  2. 1982
    1. Two elderly woman Ida and Dorothy, smile in this vintage photo
      Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean

      1982-1986

      Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean began their retirement as the first “live-in custodian-hostesses” of Brubacher House. In a letter from Brubacher House committee member Lorna Bergey, these two women were asked whether they were planning to retire immediately into rocking chairs with their knitting or could they be interested in becoming involved with an interesting project for the next few years?

      In a letter to Nelson Scheifele, Dorothy and Ida stated: “We have an active interest in our roots and in the preservation of Mennonite history. Our memories go back to grandparents who lived in the 19th century, building homes, rearing families in that century and giving us a ‘goodly heritage’….To be involved in meeting individuals who are interested in this era and interpreting this life to tourists is exciting and a real challenge for us.”

  3. 1986
    1. Paul and Edna stand in front of a field stone wall, smiling together.
      Paul and Edna Hunsberger

      1986-1991

      Paul and Edna Hunsberger had a keen interest in historical matters. Paul grew up on a farm where the University of Waterloo campus is now located. After a visit to Brubacher House in 1983, Paul and Edna felt that it would be a unique setting in which to work. The couple stayed at Brubacher House for five years, even though Edna only needed to live in Canada for one year to qualify for her pension.

  4. 1991
    1. Howard and Carol stand at an information booth for Brubacher House at a local event
      Howard and Carol Gimbel

      1991-1994

      Howard and Carol Gimbel were approached by the Brubacher House Committee to consider hosting at Brubacher House. The Gimbels were interested in the idea and thought that Brubacher House fit in with their desire to do voluntary service. Howard was adventuresome and liked people and was more involved in providing the tours. The couple completed two terms at Brubacher House while renting out their home on Bridge Street.

      The photo (right) shows Howard and Carol Gimbel at the Brubacher House display for Heritage Week 1991, at Conestoga Mall.

  5. 1994
    1. Arlyn and Judith smile for a photo, dressed informal white shirts.
      Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp

      1994-2000

      Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp were moving to Waterloo to complete their university studies and were looking for affordable student housing and employment opportunities. A contact of theirs linked them to Brubacher House. Judith was drawn to the beauty of the space and the chance to be rooted in some of Waterloo County’s history and geography. Arlyn was enrolled to finish his BA in History (specializing in Mennonite history) and one of his favourite summer employment gigs was conducting tours of his hometown. They had just finished a pastoral assignment and were glad to continue working together as a couple.

  6. 2000
    1. Jennie holds her and Colin's baby, standing outside Brubacher House
      Colin and Jennie Wiebe

      2000-2004

      Colin and Jennie Wiebe were asked by Paul Penner, Chair of the Brubacher House Committee, to take on the role of hosts. At that time, the North Campus around Brubacher House had a 9-hole golf course and fields. Moving there was like living in the country again, which is where Colin and Jennie both grew up. It also fit well with Jennie’s summer job as an agricultural interpreter at Doon Heritage Village. It was too good an opportunity to pass up!

  7. 2004
    1. Chris and Jullian pose outside Brubacher House in their wedding attire
      Chris Steingart and Jillian Burkhardt

      2004-2006

      As life-long residents of Waterloo Region, Chris (a history major) and Jillian (a religious studies major) were drawn to the unique and historically significant opportunity that Brubacher House offered. They loved the huge back porch and the deep window sills. Of course, being newly married, it didn’t hurt that the rent was free!

  8. 2006
    1. Bethany and Brandon smile for the camera in front of a forest landscape
      Brandon and Bethany Leis

      2006-2009

      Bethany Leis had recently completed her Mennonite Studies minor at Conrad Grebel University College and the host position was a great connector between her schooling and life. The setting and location along with an exchange of free rent for hosting duties seemed like a wonderful way to live in the city, save money, work and continue education in a master’s program when newly married.

  9. 2009
    1. Two young adults, Allison and Mark, sit on the large stone outside brubacher house
      Mark and Allison Brubacher

      2009-2013

      Allison and Mark met working in costume at a history museum. They both finished their history degrees while they dated each other. It felt like a natural fit.

  10. 2013
    1. Karl and Jacquie sit beneath a large tree, the stone wall of Brubacher House in the background.
      Karl and Jacquie Reimer

      2013-2017

      The Brubacher House host position became available about eight months after Jacquie and Karl finished their undergrads. Jacquie was still job searching, and after completing (most of) a history undergrad it seemed like an exciting opportunity. They knew very little about Brubacher House before their interview. During their undergraduate degrees, while living on campus at UW, they had no idea the house was even owned or operated by UW. In the end, the opportunity to be storytellers and welcome so many different people to the house, plus the amazing living space and location were the things that made them say “yes!”

  11. 2017
    1. Laura, Josh and Oren pose for an outdoor photo
      Joshua and Laura Enns

      2017 - Present

      Joshua and Laura are the current live-in hosts at Brubacher House. 

      This article, published shortly after they moved in, details some of Laura and Joshua’s reasons for wanting to become Brubacher House hosts.

      They had spent the previous year-and-a-half living and travelling in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. Visiting so many museums and historic sites really renewed their interest in history–particularly their own Mennonite family histories. And volunteering with Christian Intentional Communities, like the Iona Community in Scotland, opened their eyes to the ways in which heritage buildings could offer a sense of place, vitality, meaning, and rootedness to faith groups, community arts, and social justice movements. As a recent MA Community Music graduate, Laura was dreaming about historic buildings in Waterloo where she could organize community programming around the arts, faith, ecology, and history. She was familiar with Brubacher House because of her experiences volunteering there as a youth on Canada Day, while Brandon and Bethany Leis were hosts. Brubacher House seemed like a hidden gem with lots of potential. Amazingly, around the same time that they started talking about this vision, the host position became available, and they applied! They interviewed from a youth hostel in Athens, and ended their trip early in order to start their term as hosts.