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OMS Approval No. 1024-00I8 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-W) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION The remaining farmstead plus 36.6 cultivated acres of the historic Wertz-Bestle Farm lie on the west side of Portage Road northwest of South Bend near the Michigan state line. The westward extension of Auten.Road forms the south boundary of the property. Across P-ortaae' Road from the property lies ' considerable suburban development. which has been encroaching upon this agricultural area for several years. There are some other farms still remaining in the vicinity, and the,,land in aeneral is a mix of rolling fields typical of a.lacial moraine and patches of*second-growth forest. The farmstead.'whicb sets well back from Portaae Road. consists. of 11.4 acres surrounded on three sides by cropland. The entrance to the-drive'leadincr to the house and barn is marked at Portage Road by brick pillars that likely date to the construction of I the house.(photo 1). Maple trees line the drive along the, south: a stand of large walnut trees lies southeast of the barn. The expansive yard contains many medium and some large deciduous trees, giving the property a park -like quality (see ohotos'1.2). South of the house is a young woods: the area may have contained other outbuildings in the past; A shed --long gone --once stood in this area. . west and a little north of the barn. The brick house (photo 3). possibly dating to 1872, is a two- story, T -gabled building with a one -and -a -half story kitchen wing on the west. It rests on a foundation of shaped fieldstone. The wide overhang suggests the possibility that originally there may have been brackets beneath the eaves. in keeping with the Italianate influence prevalent valent in the area at the time. The house does possess the typical secrmental-arched windows.,most of which survive intact. with one -over -one double hung sashes. Some of the upper -story window openings contain a pair of very narrow double hung sashes. The original louvered wooden shutters survive. but are in storage at present. The kitchen wing on the west (see photo 4) has been altered somewhat. particularly with the enlarged window opening on the upper level. What presumably began as a porch on the northwest was enclosed early on. The porches on the southwest and. southeast (see photo 3), probably added in the 1890s but possibly earlier. were originally identical and flush with the south wall of the house. The oresent owner extended them outward,,a few feet and enclosed the one on the southeast to create a sunroom. The original front entrance door remains, now inside.