You can go home again
You can go home again. Many did on Saturday.
If you are - or are related to - a Schumacher, Diller, Suter, Basinger, Zimmerly, Amstutz, Neuenschwander (and its spelling variations), Hilty, Bixel, Suter, Moser, Luginbuhl (and its spelling variations), Burkholder, Steiner, Badertscher, Gratz, Bucher, Augsburger, Geiger, Althaus, Gerber… you get the idea.
MORE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF STORY -
Descendants of Swiss immigrants to Bluffton-Pandora have a homestead where they and all their friends can view rural life in the 1840s.
Home is at 8350 Bixel Road between Bluffton and Pandora, on the edge of Riley Creek as it flows toward the Blanchard. The homestead is owned and cared for by the Swiss Community Historical Society.
The Swiss homestead is open to the public several times each year. One of those is on the last Saturday in September during the Bluffton Fall Festival.
Hundreds of visitors check out the grounds, the out buildings, the garden, the house and the fixtures.
Here are some views of this year’s open house.
Stories Posted This Week
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
- Production offers a modern take on the story of St. Clare of Assisi
- Bluffton volleyball edged in 5 by Van Buren
- Pirate girls soccer tie O-G
- October 16 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- Bluffton Council recap: Officers honored for 25 years of service
- Bluffton Clean Up teams up with Troop 3256 Cub Scouts
- Ada FFA: Feeding the Farmers
- Nov. 7 Fall Community Day at Bluffton University
- Quarry Farm Nature Preserve news for Fall 2026
Thursday, October 15, 2026
- DeWine announces $200M Rural Health Transformation program award
- Herb program with Marge Lafollette, Oct. 15
- Prairie seeding activity at Bluffton University, October 24
- Food for thought: Choline for the brain
- Results for 5K on October 2, Bluffton University Homecoming event
- 15 minutes with Sherry Miller, senior center activities coordinator
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 14
- CANCELLED Main St. closure on October 15
- Frederick Clyde Warren founded True-2-Form Plastics
- Pirate boys soccer beats Wapak in regular season finale
- Pirate girls soccer defeats Liberty Center
- Mennonite pastor to explore ‘good news’ in creation
- Bluffton University earns recognition in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- Obituary for Deborah "Debbie" Welch, 74
- Spirits and exorcism presentation during University Spiritual Life Week Forum
- Dodging bullets: Bluffton oral history 90+ years after Dillinger robbery
- Nora Matthews named BHS Student of the Month for September 2026
- ICAPP analysis on charter status and local autonomy