His Farmstead Replica Is Now A Museum Piece
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Bowing to progress, Midwestern rural farmsteads from 75 to 90 years ago have mostly disappeared or been expanded and modernized. The 1940s De Ruyter farmstead, however, is completely preserved as a tabletop scale model replica, now housed in a museum in Pipestone, Minn. Sparky De Ruyter produced the masterpiece after he retired, working countless hours over more than three years in his basement woodshop.
De Ruyter spent his first 20 years growing up on his parent’s Pipestone County, Minn., farm. Memories of that time left an indelible mark. After military duty, he married and became a lifetime machinist, but his hobby was always woodworking. De Ruyter’s daughter Trish Mayer says her father enjoyed his hobby of building first-rate cabinetry, furniture, shelving and other items like quilt racks, crosses and fully-equipped playhouses. At one point, he made a model of the farm where a son-in-law was raised. That was such a hit that he decided to produce a model of the farm where he grew up.
Always a stickler for detail, De Ruyter first reproduced the scale-model barn, completing it when he was 76. He used old photos and aerial pictures of the farmstead for reference. The barn’s exterior was authentic, with a hay mow door, hayrack, trim around every window and even wood shingles. A peek inside revealed scaled-down wooden stanchions, cow dividers, a wooden water tank and carefully crafted pens. The completed project drew such rave reviews from family members that he decided to build out the whole farmsite.
The large white farmhouse had authentic windows, the windmill resembled the farm’s original version, and other outbuildings were recreated to scale and size. Even the smallest items like the mailbox, a boot scraper at the house’s doorstep, wooden clothes pins on the line, a doghouse, 3-ft. tall fences, trees and a junk pile were hand-crafted to scale. De Ruyter even made cattle and sheep for the yard and farm equipment like tractors and a threshing machine.
Mayer says her dad made over 2,000 shingles for the farm buildings and meticulously laid them in place. His son-in-law David Mayer says De Ruyter was always excited to show family members new additions to the project, but he didn’t want recognition beyond that. His daughter says her dad completed the project in 2009. It sat in the basement of his house and was eventually disassembled and moved to the house where his wife Shirley moved when he entered a nursing home.
The family asked him where the model should go, and he said it would be a nice fit for a museum. The Pipestone, Minn., museum accepted the offer, and the family moved it there. Five people reassembled it, and it’s now displayed at the museum in a building that was previously the Pipestone Town Hall.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Pipestone County Museum, 113 S. Hiawatha Ave., Pipestone, Minn. 56164 (ph 507-825-2563; museum@pipestonecountymuseum.com; www.pipestonecountymuseum.com).
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His Farmstead Replica Is Now A Museum Piece AG WORLD Bowing to progress Midwestern rural farmsteads from 75 to 90 years ago have mostly disappeared or been expanded and modernized The 1940s De Ruyter farmstead however is completely preserved as a tabletop scale model replica now housed in a museum in Pipestone Minn Sparky De Ruyter produced the masterpiece after he retired working countless hours over more than three years in his basement woodshop De Ruyter spent his first 20 years growing up on his parent’s Pipestone County Minn farm Memories of that time left an indelible mark After military duty he married and became a lifetime machinist but his hobby was always woodworking De Ruyter’s daughter Trish Mayer says her father enjoyed his hobby of building first-rate cabinetry furniture shelving and other items like quilt racks crosses and fully-equipped playhouses At one point he made a model of the farm where a son-in-law was raised That was such a hit that he decided to produce a model of the farm where he grew up Always a stickler for detail De Ruyter first reproduced the scale-model barn completing it when he was 76 He used old photos and aerial pictures of the farmstead for reference The barn’s exterior was authentic with a hay mow door hayrack trim around every window and even wood shingles A peek inside revealed scaled-down wooden stanchions cow dividers a wooden water tank and carefully crafted pens The completed project drew such rave reviews from family members that he decided to build out the whole farmsite The large white farmhouse had authentic windows the windmill resembled the farm’s original version and other outbuildings were recreated to scale and size Even the smallest items like the mailbox a boot scraper at the house’s doorstep wooden clothes pins on the line a doghouse 3-ft tall fences trees and a junk pile were hand-crafted to scale De Ruyter even made cattle and sheep for the yard and farm equipment like tractors and a threshing machine Mayer says her dad made over 2 000 shingles for the farm buildings and meticulously laid them in place His son-in-law David Mayer says De Ruyter was always excited to show family members new additions to the project but he didn’t want recognition beyond that His daughter says her dad completed the project in 2009 It sat in the basement of his house and was eventually disassembled and moved to the house where his wife Shirley moved when he entered a nursing home The family asked him where the model should go and he said it would be a nice fit for a museum The Pipestone Minn museum accepted the offer and the family moved it there Five people reassembled it and it’s now displayed at the museum in a building that was previously the Pipestone Town Hall Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Pipestone County Museum 113 S Hiawatha Ave Pipestone Minn 56164 ph 507-825-2563; museum@pipestonecountymuseum com; www pipestonecountymuseum com
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