• Deere-Wiman House
• About the House
• History of the House
• The First Owner
• The First Lady

• Butterworth Center
• About the House
• The First Owner
• The First Lady

About the Deere-Wiman House

Originally 5,000 square feet, the Deere-Wiman House, or Overlook as the Deere family knew it, has had numerous renovations and additions. Today the home boasts over 15,000 square feet.

The seven acres surrounding the house feature rolling lawns, brick walkways, and formal gardens with countless varieties of flowers and plants. A child's playhouse provides a reminder that the Deere-Wiman House was a family house first, and home to six children of the Deere and Wiman families.

The home was originally covered with wood siding, typical of many Victorian homes. An early photograph shows a house with towering turrets and spires, and ornamentation common during the period.

In 1899, a fire on the third floor caused extensive damage. The steeply pitched roof line was replaced with a flatter roof, more indicative of the Prairie styles homes popular at the time. In the mid-1910s, the wood siding on the home and adjacent carriage house was replaced with stucco.

When the Deere and Wiman families called Overlook home, a winding driveway guided their guests to the main entrance beneath a porte cochere on the house's west side.

The main floor

Vistors entering the house in 1872 were probably escorted into one of two formal rooms on the first floor, the morning room and a front parlor, which were separated by a wall with a fireplace on each side. In 1910, the wall was removed and the two rooms combined to create one large formal living room. Today, the room's walnut paneling is graced by a 19th century Flemish tapestry and 18th century Japanese embroidery.

Guests of the Deere and Wiman families were also entertained in a music room across the hall from the living room. An addition to the room in the early 20th century enlarged the room, enabling the installation of a large pipe organ for musical entertainment.

A formal dining room adjoining the living room offered elegant surroundings for the families' dinner guests. The room was redecorated with an Art Nouveau theme around 1890, but still features its original 1872 furnishings and woodwork.

When the home was first built, dinner guests could admire a collection of tropical plants in the solarium adjacent to the dining room. In the 1890s, the Deere family converted the solarium into a conservatory by adding a glass-domed ceiling. By 1908, the room was adapted for use as a breakfast room, and paneled to match the adjoining dining room.

Typical of many Victorian mansions, the home's kitchen was placed below ground level to prevent food smells and heat from entering the family's living space. A dumbwaiter from the kitchen delivered the food to a butler's pantry next to the dining room.

The family's quarters

The second floor of the home features accommodations for the adults of the family, and their guests. Children's bedrooms, a nanny's room, and several other living spaces are on the third floor.

Four bedrooms, a sitting room and five bathrooms - two of them original to the house - provided comfortable accommodations on the second floor. Each room on this floor is decorated in a distinctly different style. Several feature furnishings original to the home in 1872.

Like the rooms on the first floor of the home, the second floor rooms display treasures of the Deere and Wiman families. One of the bedrooms features one of the fireplace mantles that was removed when the parlors on the first floor were joined. In the room called the Doll Room, a delicate silk Aubusson rug graces the floor.

A home of innovations

Charles Deere and Charles Deere Wiman embraced innovation, in their home, Overlook, as well as in the products their company offered. Even in 1872, the house featured the latest technological developments. It was built with indoor plumbing, and was electrified in 1890. An elevator that runs from the lower level kitchen to the third floor and a central vacuum system were installed before 1900.