Bimeler Cabin restoration project begins in historic Village of Zoar

ZOAR – Exterior restoration of the historic Bimeler Cabin is underway.

The Zoar Community Association purchased the cabin from the Gus Ruetenik family, who owned and maintained it for nearly a century. The association is seeking to restore the cabin, as it was the original home of Zoar's leader Joseph Bimeler, as well as the first church and meeting house for the early Separatists who settled the village.

A crew of three men from Akron-based Town & Country Log Homes is working on the 940-square-foot cabin, believed to be the oldest known structures still standing in the village.

According to Ray Wengerd, owner and operator of Town & Country, rehabilitation of the cabin is a five-step process that began by removing of some of the roof and rotting logs.

Wengerd said that the oldest cabin his crew has worked on is a circa-1790s cabin in Ottawa County, Ohio.

He hopes to have the Bimeler Cabin project wrapped up in about four weeks while also working on other projects. However the whole restoration project is expected to take at least a year, according to Jon Elsasser, president of the Zoar Community Association.

The association is seeking donations to help fund the more than $100,000 project. Donations can be made through the association's website at www.historiczoarvillage.com , via GoFundMe https://gofund.me/ca841d0a or by check payable to Zoar Community Association, addressed to P.O. Box 621, Zoar, Ohio 44697.

T-R staff photographer Andrew Dolph can be reached by phone at 330-289-6072, or by email at adolph3@gannett.com . Y ou can also find him on Instagram @dolphphoto .

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Bimeler Cabin restoration project begins in historic Village of Zoar