In 1983, the Olympia Tumwater Foundation acquired Tumwater’s elegant Schmidt House, built in 1904, for Olympia Brewing Company founder Leopold Schmidt and his wife Johanna. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Tumwater Register of Historic Places and is within the Tumwater Historic District. The picturesque grounds are graced with native gardens, reflective pool and
graceful statues brought back from Europe by Leopold Schmidt. The historic house and grounds are made available for the Public History Programs organized by the Foundation’s Public History Manager, and for a limited number of rental opportunities for weddings, receptions and other special events. A historical marker, “A House Called Three Meter“, stands just outside the front gate of the Schmidt House grounds providing a detailed history on the home and family who had lived there. The grounds also feature the Centennial Rose Garden cared for by the Olympia Rose Society, the Pacific Northwest District of the American Rose Society. For information on the history of this garden and of the variety of rose species grown, go to www.pnwdistrict.org
