Grist Miller’s House

Restoring the 1782/1834 Grist Miller’s House

Located adjacent to the Luckenbach Mill, the Grist Miller’s House is an entry point to Bethlehem’s Colonial Industrial Quarter, a location that in the mid-1700s housed 35 crafts, trades and industries, making it what is considered the first industrial park in the nation. In an effort to fully restore the house so it can welcome visitors from throughout the region and around the globe, HBMS has undertaken a major renovation project at the site.

In fall 2024, following extensive structural repairs and reinforcements, the external steel beams that were in place for two decades to help stabilize the building’s walls were removed. Over the past eight months, the transformation of this landmark has been underway – the building’s exterior and interior have been restored and renovated to accommodate a new use as an interpretive and educational space. Several architectural elements, including the wood windows, hardwood floors and sections of stairs have been carefully repaired and reconstructed in-kind so that the new blends seamlessly with the original construction.

Slated to open this year, the Grist Miller’s House was designed by Artefact, Inc. founder and Lead Architect Christine Ussler, along with Project Architect Cassie Rogg. The building will feature the Ralph G. Schwarz Interpretation Center for Colonial Industries, highlighting the early industrial trades and crafts in Bethlehem, and bringing to life the way in which early Moravians joined art and innovation to improve daily life within their community.

Ussler, a graduate of Lehigh University and Columbia University, has more than 35 years of experience working on everything from finely detailed homes to apartment buildings, courthouses, churches and commercial projects. The seven-person team at Artefact specializes in adaptive reuse, working in urban settings and within historic districts. Artefact projects include the renovation and retrofit of the Lehigh County Courthouse, renovations at the Northampton County Courthouse, restoration of the Wilbur Mansion, Freemansburg Locktender’s House and HBMS’ Single Sisters’ House. Artefact has been the recipient of numerous awards, including from the PA Historic Preservation Awards and the AIA Eastern PA. Ussler has also been a consultant to historic review boards in eastern Pennsylvania for 30 years and was a member of the State Historic Preservation Board from 2016-2022.

The Ralph G. Schwarz Center for Colonial Industries will be home to rotating exhibitions, a shop showcasing and selling handmade works by artisans and a dynamic educational programming space for school groups. A focal point of this important renovation project will be the Overlook on History, a stunning, modern connector that will link the Grist Miller’s House to the Luckenbach Mill, rejoining the two buildings that were originally connected in the late 19th century.

Overlook on History

Designed by architect David Scott Parker, who volunteered his services for this unique project, Overlook on History will be a beautiful glass-and-steel structure that keeps with current best practices in the field of historic preservation, creating a dynamic space that not only connects the Grist Miller’s House and Luckenbach Mill, but also allows visitors to look out upon and reflect on the Colonial Industrial Quarter’s rich history and the important impact the Moravians had on early-American life. An important aspect of the Overlook on History will be the incorporation of the steel beams originally used to stabilize the Grist Miller’s House walls, a nod to Bethlehem’s rich industrial heritage from its founding by the Moravians through the rise of the Bethlehem Steel.

Parker is Principal of Parker Architects, a multi-faceted firm with broad experience working on cultural institutions, preservation and adaptive-use renovations, as well as major residential commissions across the United States. His credits include numerous National Historic Landmarks ranging from the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C. to the Mark Twain House and Greenwich Historical Society, for whom he built their new museum. He is also currently restoring the oldest house in Newport, R.I. for its historical society.

Parker has been involved with Bethlehem since the mid-1980s, when he assisted Ralph Schwarz in compiling a Tourism Master Plan whose recommendations eventually led to the unification and creation of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. Parker Architects did Historic Structures Reports for the Moravian Bell House & Single Sisters’ House complex, the Nain-Schober House and Burnside Plantation, the latter of which they also restored; researched and did reconstruction plans for the 1750 Smithy; and were architects of the National Museum of Industrial History.

Parker was educated at the University of Virginia and Harvard, is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Parker has received more than 50 state, regional and national awards for his work.

Who was Ralph Grayson Schwarz?

Ralph Grayson Schwarz (1925-2018) is uniquely responsible for the breadth and depth of what is now Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS). Growing up in New Jersey, Schwarz came to Bethlehem to study mechanical engineering at Lehigh University. His studies were interrupted by WWII, when he enlisted and honorably served as a Forward Observer, subsequently returning and earning an M.A. in History. Ralph’s commitment to preserving Bethlehem’s distinct heritage was so great that he not only championed its conservation, but also served in leadership roles at the Bethlehem Visitors Collegium, the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, Historic Bethlehem Partnership and Historic Bethlehem Inc., a nonprofit organization that supported the efforts to preserve the colonial buildings. These organizations, along with Burnside Plantation and the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts Inc., collectively became HBMS.