One of the farm's owners, George Conrad Hutzler, Jr., was the first to experiment with hybridization of Rosen rye and Michelite pea beans; within 20 years of his experimentation, 80% of the pea bean crop in the United States was descended from Michelite seeds grown on South Manitou Island.

[1] George Conrad Hutzler was born in about 1822 and lived in the small village of Oberkrumbach [de] near Kirchensittenbach, Bavaria.

In the 1920s, researchers from Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) chose South Manitou Island to work on experimental hybridization of rye plants, due primarily to its isolation from other rye crops which prevented accidental cross-pollination.

[4] The Hutzlers were notable partners in the effort, and won a number of awards for the varieties of Rosen Rye and the Michilite pea bean that they developed.

After George Conrad Hutzler Jr.'s death, a development group headed by William Boals purchased the farm from his son.

[4] The George Conrad Hutzler house is a 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure with clapboard siding on a concrete foundation.

CR Robinson (August 1986), National Register of Historic Places Inventory: George Conrad Hutzler Farm Photos