August Bastian Home c. 1888
The August Bastian home located on Bastian Road
August and Louisa Bastian built an Italianate-influenced Victorian-style house during the period from 1877 to 1882. This was the second home of the Bastian family and was slightly removed from the farm buildings, sitting on a rise to the north and east of the house that came with the purchase of the land in 1855. The original land has remained in the Bastian Family with a succession of family members occupying the house except for three short periods of time when it was rented to others. It is believed that about 29 direct descendants of August - 5 generations of Bastians have lived in this house.
At the start of construction all of Louisa and August's children were living at home. August died in 1887 followed by Louisa in 1903, and the following year her son Charles and wife Carrie purchased 160 acres of the original 320 acres which included this home. After his death in 1951 his estate was settled with the land sold at auction. Peter Bastian (brother of Charles) owned adjoining land and his sons Alfred, Earl, Herbert, and Oren were high bidders, so the land continued to belong in the Bastian Family. The four brothers operated under the name Bastian Brothers, and at this time Bastian Brothers remains as a family enterprise with the descendants of Earl and Herbert as owners.
The house has had few changes in layout through the years. Electricity and running water were added, an upstairs closet became a bathroom and the stairs to the basement opened into the kitchen instead of a back porch. The front porch was reconstructed to a smaller one with concrete steps and landing. In 1974 after Ron and Dolores Bastian came. the old bay window in declining condition was removed and replaced with a double window. The back porch was sealed off and became a garden room and the nearly 100 year old house was covered with aluminum siding. The next year the kitchen was remodeled and the pantry became a small hall pantry leading to a half bath. In 2000 a large attached garage was built with the entrance to the house being through a coat closet. In 2011 Ron and Dolores constructed a wall to form an activity/storage room in the basement.
Family lore has it that the plaster in the house was made using sand from the basement excavation. The basement was also plastered. The sand was of high quality and was used in all the rooms. All except kitchen and basement have all original plaster in very good condition. In 2005 a sesquicentennial reunion was held here with about 230 in attendance including Bastian descendants from the 7th generation.