Paul and Matilda Wegner began building this concrete sculpture environment around their farm home after retiring in 1929, decorating it with thousands of colorful glass shards and gradually expanding it over several years to include a fanciful American flag, a giant reproduction of their fiftieth anniversary cake, a concrete facsimile of the Bremen, and religious works such as the Prayer Garden, Glass Church, and Peace Monument that served for quiet reflection, public preaching, and community gatherings. Though neither received formal art training, their work, known locally as The Glass Church, became an important part of Wisconsin's cultural heritage alongside other creations by self-taught artists across the state. The Wegner family owned the site until Kohler Foundation, Inc. purchased it in 1986, restored it through structural stabilization, surface repair, and landscape clearing, and then gifted it to Monroe County in September 1987.