Life Upstairs

Stories from Brubacher House's live-in hosts

People

A short timeline of Brubacher House Hosts

Have you ever wanted to live in a museum? At Brubacher House, there have been many museum custodians and hosts who have lived in the upstairs apartment since 1977. Initially the Brubacher House committee sought “retired couples with an interest in the project” to fill the role as hosts, but then began hiring younger applicants interested in the position.

Throughout its years as a museum, Brubacher House has been filled with the laughter of families, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and even some children who were born there.

Maitland

Nancy and Ted Maitland

1977-1982
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Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean

1982-1986
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Hunsbergers

Paul and Edna Hunsberger

1986-1991
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Howard and Carol Gimbel at the Brubacher House display for Heritage Week 1991, at Conestoga Mall.

Howard and Carol Gimbel

1991-1994
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Friesen-Epps

Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp

1994-2000
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Wiebe

Colin and Jennie Wiebe

2000-2004
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Chris and Jillian

Chris Steingart and Jillian Burkhardt

2004-2006
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Leis

Brandon and Bethany Leis

2006-2009
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Brubaker

Mark and Allison Brubacher

2009-2013
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Reimer

Karl and Jacquie Reimer

2013-2017
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The Dyck Family

Joshua and Laura Enns

2017-Present
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Learn more about the museum history and tours

University of Waterloo,
North Campus
Frank Tompa Drive
Waterloo, ON
N2L 3G6

Phone (519) 886-3855
Email: bhouse@uwaterloo.ca

Operated by Conrad Grebel University College and the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. Owned by the University of Waterloo.

The Brubacher House is situated on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The house was built in 1850 on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted in 1784 to the Six Nations that includes 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River from its source in Dundalk to its mouth at Lake Erie.

Nancy and Ted Maitland
1977-1982

Nancy Saunders lived at Brubacher House as the first staff person on site. Her initial role was as live-in custodian and consultant/curator of the Mennonite Farmhouse. Nancy lived there before the museum was established in 1979. With a low-operating budget for this museum project, Conrad Grebel College altered her role to custodian responsibilities, in exchange for free rent at Brubacher House. The tours were conducted primarily by Lorna Bergey as well as other volunteers from the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. In 1980, Nancy married and lived with her husband Ted Maitland in the apartment until 1982.

Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean
1982-1986

Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean began their retirement as the first “live-in custodian-hostesses” of Brubacher House. In a letter from Brubacher House committee member Lorna Bergey, these two women were asked whether they were planning to retire immediately into rocking chairs with their knitting or could they be interested in becoming involved with an interesting project for the next few years?

In a letter to Nelson Scheifele, Dorothy and Ida stated: “We have an active interest in our roots and in the preservation of Mennonite history. Our memories go back to grandparents who lived in the 19th century, building homes, rearing families in that century and giving us a ‘goodly heritage’….To be involved in meeting individuals who are interested in this era and interpreting this life to tourists is exciting and a real challenge for us.”

Paul and Edna Hunsberger
1986-1991

Paul and Edna Hunsberger had a keen interest in historical matters. Paul grew up on a farm where the University of Waterloo campus is now located. After a visit to Brubacher House in 1983, Paul and Edna felt that it would be a unique setting in which to work. The couple stayed at Brubacher House for five years, even though Edna only needed to live in Canada for one year to qualify for her pension.

Howard and Carol Gimbel
1991-1994

Howard and Carol Gimbel were approached by the Brubacher House Committee to consider hosting at Brubacher House. The Gimbels were interested in the idea and thought that Brubacher House fit in with their desire to do voluntary service. Howard was adventuresome and liked people and was more involved in providing the tours. The couple completed two terms at Brubacher House while renting out their home on Bridge Street.

The photo above shows Howard and Carol Gimbel at the Brubacher House display for Heritage Week 1991, at Conestoga Mall.

Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp
1994-2000

Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp were moving to Waterloo to complete their university studies and were looking for affordable student housing and employment opportunities. A contact of theirs linked them to Brubacher House. Judith was drawn to the beauty of the space and the chance to be rooted in some of Waterloo County’s history and geography. Arlyn was enrolled to finish his BA in History (specializing in Mennonite history) and one of his favourite summer employment gigs was conducting tours of his hometown. They had just finished a pastoral assignment and were glad to continue working together as a couple.

Colin and Jennie Wiebe
2000-2004

Colin and Jennie Wiebe were asked by Paul Penner, Chair of the Brubacher House Committee, to take on the role of hosts. At that time, the North Campus around Brubacher House had a 9-hole golf course and fields. Moving there was like living in the country again, which is where Colin and Jennie both grew up. It also fit well with Jennie’s summer job as an agricultural interpreter at Doon Heritage Village. It was too good an opportunity to pass up!

Chris Steingart and Jillian Burkhardt
2004-2006

As life-long residents of Waterloo Region, Chris (a history major) and Jillian (a religious studies major) were drawn to the unique and historically significant opportunity that Brubacher House offered. They loved the huge back porch and the deep window sills. Of course, being newly married, it didn’t hurt that the rent was free!

Brandon and Bethany Leis
2006-2009

Bethany Leis had recently completed her Mennonite Studies minor at Conrad Grebel University College and the host position was a great connector between her schooling and life. The setting and location along with an exchange of free rent for hosting duties seemed like a wonderful way to live in the city, save money, work and continue education in a master’s program when newly married.

Mark and Allison Brubacher
2009-2013

Allison and Mark met working in costume at a history museum. They both finished their history degrees while they dated each other. It felt like a natural fit.

Karl and Jacquie Reimer
2013-2017
The Brubacher House host position became available about eight months after Jacquie and Karl finished their undergrads. Jacquie was still job searching, and after completing (most of) a history undergrad it seemed like an exciting opportunity. They knew very little about Brubacher House before their interview. During their undergraduate degrees, while living on campus at UW, they had no idea the house was even owned or operated by UW. In the end, the opportunity to be storytellers and welcome so many different people to the house, plus the amazing living space and location were the things that made them say “yes!”
Joshua and Laura Enns
2017-Present

Joshua and Laura are the current live-in hosts at Brubacher House. 

This article, published shortly after they moved in, details some of Laura and Joshua’s reasons for wanting to become Brubacher House hosts.

They had spent the previous year-and-a-half living and travelling in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. Visiting so many museums and historic sites really renewed their interest in history–particularly their own Mennonite family histories. And volunteering with Christian Intentional Communities, like the Iona Community in Scotland, opened their eyes to the ways in which heritage buildings could offer a sense of place, vitality, meaning, and rootedness to faith groups, community arts, and social justice movements. As a recent MA Community Music graduate, Laura was dreaming about historic buildings in Waterloo where she could organize community programming around the arts, faith, ecology, and history. She was familiar with Brubacher House because of her experiences volunteering there as a youth on Canada Day, while Brandon and Bethany Leis were hosts. Brubacher House seemed like a hidden gem with lots of potential. Amazingly, around the same time that they started talking about this vision, the host position became available, and they applied! They interviewed from a youth hostel in Athens, and ended their trip early in order to start their term as hosts.