Everybody from E-town came into this house at some point, and now I want to welcome everyone from E-town back into this house," said Stephanie Schaefer.

The house she refers to is located at 40 W. High St. in Elizabethtown. It was the home of Dr. Reuben Gross and his family. Gross, who is Schaefer's great-grandfather, was the town veterinarian, practicing for 61 years.

"He received an award for being the oldest practicing vet in Pennsylvania," Stephanie recalled. "He was in his 90s and still practicing."

Stephanie remembers spending a lot of time in her great-grandparents' home, a house that dates to 1824. She rode her tricycle through the hallways and hopped up and down steps leading to an alcove in the wall where people could pick up medicine from Dr. Gross from an alleyway.

"My brother and I say often, 'This was not our address, but this was where we grew up,'" Stephanie shared.

Although multiple generations of her family have occupied the house over the years, the property went up for auction in 1955 and the family's connection ended - until one day last year.

Stephanie's mother, Sara, lived with her and Stephanie's husband, Kimmel, until Sara's death in 2021.

"For the first year after she died, I grieved normally," Stephanie said. "The second year, something else set in. I had a different kind of grief. Instead of missing her, I just had to be back in E-town."

She credits Kimmel with supporting her as she worked through her grief, frequently driving her from their home in Willow Street to Elizabethtown.

"One time I said, 'Let's go by Grandpa's house,'" Stephanie recalled, noting that she referred to her great-grandfather Dr. Gross as "Grandpa Gross." "It looked empty, so I came to the back door and saw there were two men inside painting. I tapped on the door and introduced myself. All I wanted to do was tiptoe through the house and go down memory lane."

She casually mentioned that she had recently lost her mother and if the property owner ever wanted to sell the house, she'd be interested in purchasing it.

"I call it a God moment, because the owner called me a couple of days later, and we had the opportunity to purchase the property last year," Stephanie said.

At settlement, the agent reminded the Schaefers that the property required a business on the first floor, so Stephanie considered a few options. She enjoys fashion and home decor, but neither seemed right for the space.

"Then I had another God moment," she said. "I thought, 'What is this house to you?' It's about family, and it's all about memories. Well, I thought, 'Bring that back.'"

Before her mother passed away, Stephanie had started a small organics business with her called Steph 'n Sara's Naturals. She moved the business into a front room formerly used as the vet practice, and she filled the home with items owned by her relatives through the years.

"Mother and Dad had all kinds of glass and quilt collections," she said. She asked a local auctioneer about their value, and while he said they were very pretty, he noted there wouldn't be much interest in the public purchasing them.

"He suggested we box everything up in $5 lots, but I couldn't do that," Stephanie said. "The irony is, now people come into this house, and everyone wants to see these things."

Dubbing the property the "Dr. Reuben & Sarah Gross Family History House," Stephanie has opened the house to tours. Many are given on Second Friday in Elizabethtown, but she will also meet people any day for a tour by appointment.

Although she is proud of how the family heirlooms are displayed and she enjoys providing the history and stories behind the objects, she emphasizes that this is a small-scale museum.

"This is not the Smithsonian," she said with a laugh. "This is a very simple museum showing the lifestyle of people in the 1800s and 1900s."

On tours, she points out family photos, antique china and a dry sink that's original to the property. She tells visitors about how her great-grandfather created tinctures and ointments for animals from items in his backyard garden. And she emphasizes the impact Dr. Gross had on the town.

"After he left this house, he moved into a nursing home in town, and people would bring their dogs and cats to him there," Stephanie said with a smile.

To prepare to open the museum, she completed extensive research on her family at the Elizabethtown Historical Society. This fall, she was presented with a Peshtauk Award from the society, given to historic properties in Elizabethtown.

Her husband has been very supportive of her idea to create the museum. "My husband is so like-minded," she said, noting that he also has deep roots in Elizabethtown. "When his wife said, 'Do you think we could buy Grandpa's house?' that didn't sound too weird to him. He's very nostalgic like that."

Stephanie notes that work is never done on the museum, but she doesn't mind.

"It is my goal that this house never gets sold again," she said. "This is a labor of the heart."

For more information on the museum, visit http://www.stephnsarasnaturals.com. To arrange a tour, call or text 717-209-2885 or leave a voicemail message at 223-529-7272.