In 1928, the Marckwardt/Weston family moved to the farm. William Marckwardt bought the farm in 1931. His daughter, Alice Weston, inherited the farm from his estate in 1949.
The main use of the barn’s basement by the Marckwardt/Weston family was as an aluminum/brass foundry. The company mainly produced barrel stands and was named “Waukesha Metal Products Co.” with William Marckwardt’s brother, Henry, as President and Harvey Weston as Vice President. After several years, the company dissolved and the barn was used as storage.
As the apple orchards planted by the Marckwardt family began to produce in 1944, the barn’s basement became an apple cooler and the main floor of the barn was used to store orchard machinery. The apples from the orchard have been comprised of over 90 varieties, including many that are heirloom and historical, dating back several hundred years. This is one of Wisconsin’s first landscapes to be on the National Register of Historic Places.