The Architect

Jacob Rieder, the Swiss-born, New Glarus architect who designed the Chalet, incorporated many of the features characteristic of the style traditionally erected in German-speaking, alpine mountain regions of Switzerland, particularly in the canton of Bern.  These details include the wooden board exterior, notched at the corners; the balcony, its balustrade embellished with lace-like cut-outs; the casement windows with round, leaded-glass panes, accented with green painted, plank shutters and cut-out flower boxes; the roofs weighted down with rocks, held in place by boards, which traditionally kept the alpine winds from blowing off the roof or its slates; a plastered chimney with a gabled roof; and horizontal bands of ornamentation int he gable ends, including German inscriptions. 

Among the documents in the archives of the New Glarus Historical Society are architectural drawings done by Jacob Rieder and photographs of buildings he designed and built in New Glarus. Rieder was a Swiss immigrant from Canton Graubunden, which borders on Canton Glarus. His birthplace was the Canton’s capital city of Chur, where he lived before attending the St. Gallen Polytechnic school in 1910 to study Swiss building styles and techniques. Later he emigrated to the United States, bringing his early sketches and drawings with him to his newly adopted country. In 1933, Rieder won a Juror’s Prize from the Yale Chicago Century of Progress Exposition.

Shortly thereafter, Rieder received his first commission from Edwin Barlow, who asked Rieder to design and help build the Chalet of the Golden Fleece. A Bernese style chalet was chosen for Barlow’s home in 1937. This boost helped him to secure additional building projects in New Glarus, though most would not reflect his interest in Swiss architecture.

Ten years later, Ernest Thierstein asked Rieder to build him a retirement home. Again, Rieder chose a Bernese Emmental style, more elaborate than the Chalet of the Golden Fleece. It is reported that Rieder did much of the carpentry work himself, including interior paneling and built in furniture seen in the photos below. Thierstein’s home was filled with local and newly arrived Swiss. Ernie held Maennenchor and Yodel Club practices here and his hospitality welcomed anyone arriving from Switzerland. Today the Emmentaler Chalet is the home of Historical Society members Kris and Penny Kubly. Between the time of these commissions from private individuals, Rieder was asked to design and build the first log structure for the Historical Society. Rieder’s approach to log building construction was unique according to the architectural consultant’s assessment done several years ago for the Historical Society. Rather than the typical notched logs used in many America structures, Rieder took a “lincoln log” approach, much like laying one picture frame atop another. The community building was unveiled in 1942 and served as the only structure on the grounds of the museum until the Log Church was built in 1952 with funds donated by the Wilhelm Tell Guild.

Courtesy of New Glarus Historical Society