THE UNDERRINER HOUSE & DAIRY

Ownership of the property on which this house was built, has passed through at least 19 people since 1818, when the government deeded it through a grant.

The original single story house was built with re-cycled lumber, which we believe came from one of the original houses in St. Michael's Village, which was caught in the 1814 flood. Core samples from the vertical cedar beams were sent to the University of Missouri for age analysis and it was determined that the earliest felled date was 1825 and the latest being 1835.  Therefore, it is possible that the house could have been built as early as 1835.

The original single-story house was rectangular in shape and was built on a hand-carved rock foundation. Sill plates 10" x 12" made from hand-hewn pine were laid directly on the stone foundation. Other large hand-hewn cedar beams formed the walls and horizontal top plates.

About 1895, a major renovation took place. The roof was removed from the original structure and a second story added with a two-story "T" addition added to the back of the house. The entire house was then sided in cedar clapboard.

In the latter half of the 1900's, the house experienced great neglect. It was in danger of being torn down in September of 1998, when a small group of local citizens decided this historic site must be saved.

Now, a major restoration is taking place. Most of the work   is done by volunteers, whenever possible. Parks Construction of Belgrade   completed Phase 1, replacing the rotted sill plates with cedar sill plates, thus leveling the floors and raising the outside corners 4-6" in some areas. In the summer of 1999, Parks Construction returned and replaced the roof with architectural shingles.   At the same time, the exterior of the house was cleaned, clapboard repaired and then primed and painted in folk Victorian colors.

A chain link fence is in the process of being installed around the perimeter of the property.

This past summer, the lot adjacent to the Underriner was donated to the Foundation.  This property was originally a part of the Underriner Homestead.  On this lot is yet another historic building, the Underriner Dairy Barn.    We are now in the process of replacing the leaking, rotted roof with new decking and the narrow corrugated sheet metal roof.  We anticipate the restoration of this building will be completed well before it is needed to house the livestock exhibits for the first Madison  County Fair since 1953.