HERITAGE HOUSE
It may seem strange that a man should move to Harvard with a horse, a white
horse, in these automated days but this was true of Al Froehlke. He, along
with his wife, Wanda, came to Harvard in 1955, having just sold their White
Horse Inn, north of Elkhorn, bringing the horse with them. Of course, the
horse was not real but it was life size and was a good luck charm, having
stood in front of the Inn since 1935. But, besides being a good luck charm
this horse was historic in character, having been part of a span that had
been on display at the John Deere exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893.
After the exposition, the two horses were purchased by a Mr. Scherer of
Palmyra, Wisconsin to be used at his shop to display harnesses. Sometime
later, one of the horses found its way to another harness shop owned by Harry
Neill, in East Troy, where Mr. Froehlke discovered it.
But Al couldn't retire. Casting about for something to do, he purchased the
old Johnny Meyer's Tavern from the Obert Brothers at Rts. 14 and 23 and named
it the Heritage House, again putting the horse to work outside his front door.
The idea of the Heritage House was to dedicate the place, in paint and glass,
to the honor of our early American heritage. Immediately he began his plan
working with skilled artisans. All the leaded stained glass was designed and
created by G. M. Mueller and the artistic paintings are done by Helen Kluge
and Mariann Harkness.
The stained glass windows depict early American personages in our history and
the paintings, including the back bar, are dedicated to the thirteen
colonies. All the work was done patiently and carefully and was not finished
until 1964.
In 1970 his dream completed, Mr. Froehlke sold the Heritage House to Mr.
William Schmid, who died the day he was to take over. However, his son,
William Schmid Jr. and wife carried on until they sold out to Mr. Dieter
Reinke and Mr. Jack Lulofs who took possession May 1, 1976.
These men, both European born, were enchanted with the heritage idea and
immediately made plans to enlarge and extend the restaurant, continuing with
the same theme. These changes include more than doubling the size of the
dining room and adding a downstairs banquet room. The latter will seat 120
people with its own serving kitchen, bar, restrooms, fireplace, public
address system, screen and disappearing dance floor.
Following Mr. Froehlke's lead, they continue to offer the finest of foods,
such as steaks, chops and seafood, plus the best of domestic and imported
wines. Much of their food has a German essence and they feature a luncheon
specialty daily.