Kestner Homestead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Olympic National Park, National Park Service

Owens, Erica; Cain, Cortney

Kestner Homestead is a 200-acre site in the southwest portion of Olympic National Park, near Lake Quinault. As stated in the 2007 National Register nomination, the site is locally significant for its association with the Homestead Act of 1862 as “the oldest surviving settler-built homestead still extant in the Quinault River Valley on the Olympic Peninsula within the Olympic National Park.” While the nomination establishes the period of significance as 1897-1944, historic documents indicate that Antone Kestner arrived in the Lake Quinault area in 1890 and began “proving up” his claim, which he submitted in 1891. By 1895, Antone Kestner had already built a house, a barn, several outbuildings, and cleared approximately 20 acres of land. Thus, it is proposed here that the period of significance be expanded to 1890-1944 to include his earliest developments and ending when the Kestner family began parceling out their property, marking the end of an era for the homestead. The nomination also establishes the site boundary to encompass 14 acres immediately surrounding the main building complex. In order to include the land historically associated with the Kestner homestead and to assess the landscape characteristics of the property more fully, it is proposed here that the boundary be expanded to include Antone Kestner’s entire claim of 160 acres plus his son’s claim of 40 acres in 1904, for a total of 200 acres that the Kestner family owned during the historic period. The significance of the site during the period of significance is revealed today in the extant features and landscape characteristics, such as buildings, roads, clearings, and orchard trees, and the natural topography, creeks, and rainforests that continue to define the setting and historic character of the site. The style of the historic buildings is vernacular – a simple architectural style constructed of native materials, predominantly the native tree species found on the Olympic Peninsula. Antone was respected as a skilled carpenter and his handiwork is apparent in the buildings he constructed. The buildings were organized in a cluster to meet utilitarian needs of operating a homestead without machinery or motorized vehicles. One of the most critical aspects of homesteading on the Olympic Peninsula is the amount of time and effort devoted to clearing land for a successful operation. The extant clearings are especially critical to portray the historic character of the homestead. In 1944, the Kestner family sold the portion of the homestead with the main building complex to Orlo Higley, grandson of another prominent homesteading family in the Lake Quinault area. The Higleys made some changes to the site, including the addition of a metal barn, remodeling of the house, and the planting of an experimental forest. Some of the fence lines and corrals around the barn may have been altered as well. However, the overall feeling and association of the site as an early twentieth century homestead still remains. Today, the Kestner Homestead retains integrity of location, design, materials, craftsmanship, feeling, association, and setting.

Kestner Homestead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Olympic National Park, National Park Service

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