The Schwegmann House was built by John and Mary Schwegmann in 1861 and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1984 when it was restored and converted to a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Historically it is significant as it is associated with the German settlement of Washington, an event of importance in the early history of both Missouri and the United States. The home is a well preserved example of the design, style and craftsmanship that typifies Missouri German building traditions as they developed along the Missouri River. The building's size, approximately 5,000 square feet, is much larger than most other surviving single family dwellings of similar vintage in the Washington area.

John F. Schwegmann was an early miller in Washington, plying his trade from the mid 1850's until 1888. He provided a market for local grain, sold flour and grist, channeled money into the Washington economy through wages to his workers and even provided overnight lodging to his farmer customers in the upstairs rooms of his home. "When people came to the mill to bring wheat, they had to be kept overnight - thus the need for such a big house. In the winter the farmers would drive their teams across the frozen Missouri River." "Minnie always said it was like a boarding house at their home as she was growing up, with all the farmers and their families. She said they would come one day, the next day they would go shopping, then the third day they would go home."

The life of John Schwegmann represents the fulfillment of the middle class German immigrants' dream for success in America. Although he most certainly arrived with some funds, there can be no doubt that he was a hard and conscientious worker. He was a successful businessman, a prominent citizen, a politician, patriarch of a large family of 12 children; and he lived and died in an American community that stayed very close to its German folkways. In 1892, at the age of 68, John F. Schwegmann died a hero while trying to rescue his son from a team of runaway horses. Mary Schwegmann died at the age of 76 in 1905. "Grandmother Schwegmann was lively - a lot of fun, and believed in having a good time."

The Schwegmann House is a two and one half story building, made of brick, facing north on the corner of Front and Olive Streets by the Missouri River. Completed in 1861, the structure is Georgian in form with some detailing in various styles. The home has fourteen rooms and three fireplaces. Two shed roof additions at the rear of the building form an "L" shape with a roofed sitting porch. The exterior windowsills are of walnut. Windows on the second floor have segmentally arched voussoirs in contrast to the first floor, which are flat arched. The four lintels on the first floor front are of decorative cast iron of a Classical Revival style. Original brackets reflective of the Victorian period remain on the three pedimented dormers in the front and on some sections of cornice. The iron balcony over the front door has been returned. The front door is deeply recessed into an Italianate arched entryway. The initials of the home's builder, John Frederick Schwegmann, appear in the double frosted glass of the front door transom.

The interior has an eleven foot central stair hall with a straight run staircase that features a continuous banister to the third floor. The tapered octagonal newel post, delicately turned balusters and flat banisters are executed in walnut. Treads on the stairs are of quarter sawn lumber. The original symmetrical layout of the main building remains unaltered with four rooms on each floor and two rooms in the attic. Wide sliding doors separate the two main parlors on the first floor. Both rooms feature fireplaces. Doorways between the rooms and the window enframements feature pedimented heads of Greek key design.

Historic research by Ralph Haynes
Quotes by Ada Flake