# Brierbaur house



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

I am currently building a house that is located in New Lisbon Wisconsin. It is the Henry Brierbaur home. Henry was a German immigrant that settled in New Lisbon back in the late 1800's. He opened a brewery and later built himself a mansion right next to the Milwaukee Road mainline. I will be modeling his house in the 1950's in HO scale.
Trough the years the house fell into disrepair here is a picture of it from two years ago.










Someone bought the house two years ago and with some grants restored it back to how it was when it was built. Here is a picture from earlier this year.










I hope anyone interested will follow along as I try to recreate this building.


----------



## brownwolf66 (Jul 9, 2013)

Excellent project.I,for one,am looking forward to seeing your progress.Good luck in your attempts.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Thanks Brownwolf,

I cut the main wall sections out of Rusty Stumps 1/32 thick laser cut brick plywood then painted them with gray primer to help hold the bricks in place.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice they are saving some history, you are too by building it. :smilie_daumenpos:

Is that house by the lake or river?
It has a widow watch on the top?


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Ed, the house is built right off the Milwaukee Road main line. From the tower you can see up and down the tracks.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

After the paint dried I flipped the sections over and laid out the windows and doors.










then cut them out,










all windows and doors are from Tichy, a few have to be reworked slightly.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

I used 3/16 sq. basswwod for the bracing.










then painted the inside black.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Assembled the four main walls.










doing the fancy brickwork using 1/64 thick laser cut self stick sheet.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

I added the kitchen addition and painted the whole building in it's final color.










The addition is cut off at an angle because it is at the edge of the layout.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

ak-milw said:


> The addition is cut off at an angle because it is at the edge of the layout.


It is coming along nicely.:smilie_daumenpos:
But now it will not be a copy of the original?

Couldn't you add a small piece onto the side of the table to accommodate the rest of it?
The porch line won't look the same? The whole frontal view will be off, it won't look the same.
Maybe find a different spot for it? Turn it somehow?

Strange he built it with a widows watch on the top. I guess he like the looks.
Or maybe he was a peeping Tom and could eyeball the neighbor hood ladies better from up there.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Big Ed, I think he was a closet railfan and would watch the trains from up there. I don't have much choice with the house it has to go in the spot I have for it. It might not be perfect but it will give the general idea of the structure.

All the doors and windows painted and installed.










on the backside I added the rock foundation and the sill plate.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Well it looks better in that picture, it doesn't look so angled now.

But it will take away from the scrolling on the porch roof some, you going to add the scrolling?
That is a nice detail to add.

I think there is a site somewhere that sells details like that, the scrolling and things like it. 
You want me to try and find it?


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Thanks for the offer Ed but I planed on scratchbuilding it,


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

ak-milw said:


> Thanks for the offer Ed but I planed on scratchbuilding it,


OK, I was wondering how you scratch built the doors and windows.
Good job. :thumbsup:
Tichy....had to look that up.
https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/SearchValue/windows/Default.aspx

We have a member who has not been here for a while, in this thread she explained how she scratch built some windows for one of her scratch built structures they are N scale. Scroll to number 27 post there it starts the building with the scratch built windows.
If you care to look,
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=18615


Your project is looking great, :smilie_daumenpos: your going to add the train watching room up top right?


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

I will check it out. I am working on the tower right now.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

I added the window glass and painted in the drapes. I also got the roof on, I will finish it after I mount the tower.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

The tower is on and the roof joints sealed up.










now to get all the standing metals ribs on the roof.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice spot on top for the flag. :thumbsup:
Don't forget the chimney.

You going to be adding some lights inside? 
Outside porch lights, after you build the porch?

Looking good. :smilie_daumenpos:


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Finished roofing


----------



## silver69 (Dec 20, 2013)

Very nice work!


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Thank you Silver.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

The porch foundation and decking is done.


----------



## garymc (Oct 13, 2011)

Looking Good Andy, glad to see you posting your work on another forum


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Hey Gary, nice to hear from you, This seemed like a nice place so I settled in. Bob and Chet are here also.


----------



## ak-milw (Nov 3, 2014)

Just about wraps this one up, still have to add a front step.










QUESTION: Do you like to see a complete build thread or just a picture of the finished build????


----------



## garymc (Oct 13, 2011)

Very nice Andy, and answer to your question is BUILD THREAD in my opinion...always enjoy watching as your structures take shape.


----------



## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Wow!!!

What an amazing custom build, with such an historic focus. Great work, and thanks for sharing!

TJ


----------



## grashley (Aug 27, 2015)

I am considering trying scratch building. I want to see ALL the pictures to both follow progress and see how it is done. This thread has been VERY educational! 
Thank You!


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

grashley said:


> I am considering trying scratch building. I want to see ALL the pictures to both follow progress and see how it is done. This thread has been VERY educational!
> Thank You!


Scratch is one of the very enjoyable facets of modelling. Especially if you have
a well stocked hobby supply near you. Evergreen and Plastruct make
plastic scale construction materials, including the various steel beams,
various wall types, various roofing, and stairways, railings and the like.
With basswood or balsa wood materials and card stock you can build
some very interesting models. I try to keep a stock of various
materials so that when I see something I want to build I have
what I need. The first thing to buy, though, is a
Scale ruler. The metal one I have has N, HO and 0 scales. With it,
you can automatically translate actual foot and inch measurements
into scale feet and inches. It is from Model Railroader.

Don


----------

