Retired chef Kelly Wambach creates faithful replicas of classic area homes — here, the homes of George E. Nichols in Fargo and Dr. John Patterson in Barnesville.

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Kelly Wambach’s growing collection of historic Moorhead, Fargo and Clay County home replicas will be on display at the Moorhead Public Library starting next Monday. It will remain on view through the holiday season.

Wambach, a retired chef who lives in Sabin, has turned his appreciation of the area’s historic residences into a collection of handmade miniature replicas. The library exhibit features his latest works, two of the community’s best-known Victorians – Moorhead’s Solomon G. and Sarah Comstock House, constructed in 1883, and Charles and Matilda Roberts’ imposing 1884 residence across the river on Fargo’s Eighth Street, along with half a dozen others.

The inspiration for Wambach’s craft comes from the German-American tradition of “putz houses” popular 150 years ago, when families fashioned tiny villages beneath their Christmas trees around the Nativity creche. The trend exploded in the years after World War II, when Japanese-made cardboard and paper houses covered in glitter became popular in American dime stores. The name “putz” comes from the German word putzen, “to put,” but has evolved to mean “putter around” or “decorate.”

His projects are considerably more elaborate. Built on a 2 by 2 foot plywood base, he fashions them of cardboard and common household materials, then painstakingly paints them and adds other finishing touches. Embellished with true-to-life details, each takes a month or so to complete. The Roberts house, he says, required at least 150 hours of handwork.