LARSON FARM

Blanchardville, Wisconsin

Brief History

Larson Farm was settled by Knut and Gunhild Syse, Norwegian immigrants, in 1854. Their first home was a dugout; a log cabin soon replaced it. The present stone house and barn replaced the original cabin in the 1860s. The Syses raised wheat at first, and transitioned to dairying around 1880. Larson Farm remained in the Syse family until 1912.

Anton and Lena Knudtson, dairy farmers, lived on the property until 1937. In 1938, Milton and Gladys Erickson purchased Larson Farm. Their family lived on the farm for ten years, and continued dairying here until 1968. Gerald and Barbara Larson family bought the property in 1975, spending summers here. In 1986, they completed the frame addition to the main residence. Larson Farm thereafter served as full-time residence for Gerald and Barbara, through 2007. The Joseph and Josephine Hynek log cabin was moved to Larson Farm in 2003.

Since 2006, Todd Larson has been owner and steward of Larson Farm.

See the full Larson Farm history published February 2017.

Land and House

Land Settled in 1854 by Norwegian immigrants Knudt Olesen Syse and Gunhild Knudsen Syse. Original house was a sod hut, followed by a log cabin, and then the present stone house, which was constructed in the 1860’s and possibly used timbers from the original log cabin. Farmed for many years by Norwegian-American Erickson family of Blanchardville, Wisconsin (13 children). Farm acquired by Swedish-Americans Gerald and Barbara Larson in 1976, and stone house renovations undertaken by the Larson family (children LeAnn, Todd, Dawn, and Kurt)  in 1986 in conjunction with Roger Nodorft construction (New Glarus, Wisconsin).

Barn

Constructed in the 1860’s, probably using some timbers from earlier barns in the area. Initials of Anton Knudson, who succeeded the Syse family and preceded the Erickson family, appear on lower Eastern doorway, dated 1927. Barn renovations undertaken by Gerald, Todd, and Kurt Larson, and John Murry and Bob Weiland, during the period 1980 – 2000.

Cabin

Constructed in the 1850’s as a homestead in Hillsboro, Wisconsin by Czech immigrants Joseph and Josephine (Jakis) Hynek. Purchased in 2003 from John Popejoy (current owner of the farm in Hillsboro) by Todd Larson and moved to the present site in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Larson Farm (logs dissembled and moved by John Underwood; reconstruction overseen by Karl Crave Painting & Repair, Waterloo, Wisconsin).

Family Farm in Illinois

Gerald Larson’s father Fritz (b 1905, d 1999) was raised and worked as a child on a farm in Garden Prairie, Illinois. Elements of the Garden Prairie farm integrated into the Larson Farm include hinges retrieved from the Garden Prairie barn, which was destroyed by a tornado in the 1960’s, and whose remnants were burned in the 1970’s (hinges currently appearing on upper shutter window on Eastern end of Larson Farm barn), and soil from the Garden Prairie fields distributed at the 2004 inauguration of the Larson Farm cabin (above). Large willow tree in valley opposite barn of Larson Farm was cut by Fritz as a slip from a Larson residence in Madison, Wisconsin, and planted by Fritz in the 1980’s.