[1] The Helvig–Olson family originally immigrated from Kvinnherad Parish in Norway to Kendall County, Illinois.

They then moved to Olive Township, Clinton County, Iowa in the late 1850s and early 1860s.

[2] His half-brother John Olson, one of the founding members of the Kvindherred Lutheran Church located 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the farmstead, had bought a nearby farm two years prior.

Starting in 1870 John Olson wrote letters to his brother in Norway stating, "Your children can now earn their own living by feeding and clothing themselves over here and also be of help to you parents.

He consolidated the two farms under his ownership and it made him one of the largest landowners in Olive Township.

[2] The farm, reduced to 237 acres (96 ha), was eventually acquired by Joel Olson, a great-grand-nephew of John J. Helvig.

On the north side of the farmstead is a large machine shed, clad in steel, that was built in 1978.

The two-story frame structure has been altered on the main level to create two large openings on the south side.

The frame structure is built on a concrete foundation, the exterior walls are covered with vertical tongue-and-groove fir.

The upper level originally had two 10-by-18-foot (3.0 by 5.5 m) grain bins on one end, but it was later converted into a single loft that was used for hay storage.

Like the hog building, it also has its own has holding pen, pasture, and exercise area.

It features an off-center gable roof and a sliding door on the west side, and has four open bays that face south on the interior.

Hi The final major farm building is a double corn crib, built in 1941.

The floor of the building is composed of concrete and the walls are beveled pine boards, or cribbing, that are spaced to allow for ventilation.