The guided tour starts at the Heiss family home. Built in 1870 by Charles and Robert Weirick, the home is a simple German style with a formal parlor, family parlor, and kitchen on the first floor and five bedrooms on the second floor. Catherine Heiss (William’s mother) bought the house in 1872 after the death of her husband, Peter. Over the years, the Heiss family renovated and modernized the house. In 1903, electric was installed.

In 1908, when William’s in-laws, Samuel and Helen Smith moved in with their daughter and son-in-law, the formal parlor was converted to a library for Reverend Smith. By the 1920s, a new kitchen had been added to the rear and a second floor bedroom had been converted to a bathroom.

In the 1930s, the parlor/library became a kitchen / living room / dining room for the tenants who rented the eastern half of the house. The house was unoccupied from 1955 until the museum opened in 1978. The majority of the furnishings belonged to the family.