The Iverson House was completed in 1854 by the Rev. Andreas Iverson and members of his Moravian congregation, all recent Norwegian immigrants, who together were responsible for founding Ephraim. It served as the place of worship for the settlement until the Moravian Church was completed in 1859, and Iverson lived in the house until he left the village in 1864. His successor, the Rev. J.J. Groenfeldt, purchased the house from Iverson and resided there during his twenty-year tenure as a pastor. He was responsible for many improvements, including the construction of a barn around 1867.
In 1884, the Rev. Anders Petterson came from Norway to replace Groenfeldt, and he and his family lived in the house until the completion of the church parsonage in 1885. During this time he rented the house from his predecessor and he and his wife shared the home with another family. Ultimately the Iverson House was sold to the Walker/Field family around 1912, and it remained in their possession until its purchase by the Ephraim Historical Foundation was finalized in 2004.
The Iverson House is the oldest frame home in Ephraim and one of the oldest in the county. The original Moravian settlers felt that the pastor's home "ought to be the best and the largest" and with that in mind, Iverson drew up plans for his home that included two brick chimneys and eleven glass windows. Its unique Norwegian-style construction includes whitewashed board and batten siding and a walk-out stable for animals on the lower level. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, "the exposed ceiling beams, paneled doors, and six-over-six sash all help to underscore the importance of this building as an exceptional original example of early Wisconsin construction." The front of the property alson Moravia boasts a fieldstone wall - built by Iverson and "dry-stacked" without the use of mortar.
Upon its completion, the Iverson House quickly became central to the life of the new community. In addition to serving as a place of worship until the church building was ready, the house was also the location of the first formal school classes help in the county. Iverson took great care to design a front door that contained a vertical tier of four small windows through which frequent visitors could be seen, and where a welcoming lamp could be placed on the bottom sill at night.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Iverson House is that there have been few alterations in the 150-plus years that it has been standing. The Walker/Field family owned the Iverson House and used it as a summer cottage for over 90 years, yet only the most neccessary improvements were made and the historic integrity of the building was never compromised. The restoration by the Ephraim Historical Foundation was non-invasive, and focused on removing the few "modernizations" that had been made to the house, such as indoor plumbing, closets, and baseboard heat. The Foundation also repainted the exterior with whitewash and the interior with calcimine paint, as well as rebuilt the parts of the house's foundation that had deteriorated. A new front entrance was also designed and built.
Anna Petterson, wife of Anders Petterson, the third pastor of the Ephraim Moravian Church, wrote a series of letters home to her mother describing the experiences she and her new husband were having serving the spiritual need of a new settlement of Moravians in the Wisconsin frontier. Her letters contain copious details about the furnishings and the layout of the Iverson House in 1885, and form the basis of the historical interpretation of the house. Today the house is furnished for utility and simplicity, using Anna's letters as a guide.
Visitors to the Iverson House will be led on a guided tour of the building by a docent in period dress, who will describe the history and furnishings of the house from the perspective of Anna and Anders Petterson. The setting of the house, combined with a first-person story told in the rooms where Ephraim history was made, make for a moving and memorable experience for vistors of all ages.