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NPS Form 10- 900 -a OMB Approval No. 1024 -0018 ( 8 -86) - .. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page Wertz- Bestle Farm : t. ��osepn 1 oun�v ilv NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION T'iie remaining farmstead plus 36_.6 cultivated -acres of the stai�ic Wertz - nestle Farm i - ie on the west side of Portage Road northwest or South Bend near the Michigan state line. The westward extension of Auten Road forms the south boundary of the property. Across Portage Road from the properry lies considerable suburban development. which has been enc. upon this aG' ricul�ural area for several years. There are some other farms still remaining in the vicinity. and the lane: in general is a mi of calling fields typ of glacial moraine and patches of second- Growth forest. The farmstead. which sets well back from Portage Road. consists of 1i_f1 acres surrounded on three sides by cropland. Th entrance to t he drive leading to the house and barn marked at Portage Road by brick pillars that likely date to the .�e house ipho(photo 1) . Maple trees line the drive cons or t ruction � alona the south: a stand of large walnut trees lies southeast or the barn. The expansive yard contains many medium and some iarg�: deciduous trees. aivina the property a park -like a)jal ir_v ( see photos 1 . 2) . South of the house is a , woods: the area may have contained other outr.uildings in the vast. A shed--Iona crone- -once stood in this area. west and little north or the barn. The brick house (photo 3). possibly elating to l8 is a two - story. T- cabled building with a one- and -a -half story kitchen wing foundation or shapect rieidstone. The on the west. It rests on a wide overhang suggests the i 1 i-v that original lv there ma ?r have - -been brackets beneath the eave C. i,)lceeping with the Italianar_e influence prevalent in the area at the time. The hol;se does possess the tvpical seamental- arched. windows. most of which Survive intact. With on - over - one Ciauble h)_ina sashes• dime of the upper - story window openings contain a pair of very narr - ow double huna sashes. The prig :nal louvered wooden shutters survive. but are in storaae at present. The kitchen wing on the west (see photo 4) has been altered somewhat. particularly with the enlarged window openincr on the upper level. What presumably began as a porch on the northwest was enclosed ear an. The porches on the southwest and southeast (see photo 3), probabiv added in the 18 9-0s but possibiv earlier. were originally identical and flush with the south wall of the house. The present owner extended them outward a few feet and enclosed the one on the southeast to create a sunroom. The - - - r)( -e na i ns . now inside.