The house from the southeast.Photo byT.G. Tolles (1981) via NRHP Nomination Form.

The historic Kotthoff-Weeks Farm Complex is in the vicinity of Hermann, Missouri (Gasconade County). The complex contains a barn and farmhouse constructed between 1850 and 1861. They are heavy timber frame and stone buildings in the Fachwerk form, an architectural style including timber woods.

Also on the property is a smokehouse built around 1842 which was also included in the National Register. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 1983. The property is privately owned and not open to the public.

The Kotthoff-Weeks Farm Complex dates back to the mid-1800s displaying German construction styles. The complex goes back to early German settling in Gasconade County.

Looking northeast at the farm complex.Photo byHistoric American Buildings Survey via Library of Congress.

The above image shows three buildings of the Kotthoff-Weeks Farm. These are good examples of the vernacular architecture of Gasconade County. The complex includes a log smokehouse (ca. 1842), a half-timber house (1850-1860), and a masonry and frame barn (1860-64).

Settlement Society of Philadelphia

The German Society of Philadelphia was founded in 1764. During the 1800s, the Society supported immigrants and helped to preserve and promote German traditions and customs. This organization was responsible for the early German immigration in Gasconade County along the Missouri River.

In 1837, George F. Bayer (1800-1839) was employed by and authorized by the Society to acquire tracts of land in the region which formed Hermann, Missouri, and the site of the Kotthoff-Weeks farm. Bayer had previously immigrated from Germany to find a new settlement for other German countrymen.

The tracts of land were sold to German immigrants. There were issues for Bayer though and many of the men returned to Germany after complaining to the Society about Bayer's inability to manage Hermann.

According to the Find-a-Grave record, Bayer was cleared of any wrongdoing of the management of Hermann.

Bayer died at age 38. There is a plaque near his gravesite indicating he acquired the first land that became Hermann.

On July 12, 1842, Hermann residents sold 80 acres to Bernard Kotthoff, a Prussia immigrant. After Kotthoff died in 1861, his son, Christian, inherited the property and subsequent owners were related to the Kotthoffs. In 1905, Rudolf Heitland sold the property to Albert W. Weeks.

Weeks's wife, Bertha Bunge Weeks, was a second-generation German immigrant in Illinois. In 1905, they moved to Gasconade County. Their family held the property until 1972 when the farm was purchased by Harry Baumstark of Rock Cliff Investment Co. Baumstark invested in the property to help maintain it. According to the Redfin real estate website, the property was last sold in July 2007.

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