60 Wis. 334 | Wis. | 1884
The real question presented by the case is whether the east end of the fourteen-rod strip of land, with the dwelling-house situated thereon, was the homestead of the respondents at the time the execution sale was made. The respondents rest their claim to hold the dwelling-house and the adjoining land on the east end of the lot as their homestead on the ground that they have claimed it to be such, although they have not lived on it for the ten years next preceding the sale, and have in fact had their home and lived in the buildings on the west end of the lot during all this time. The statute says that the homestead, when in a city, shall consist of a quantity of land not exceeding a quarter of an acre, and the dwelling-house thereon, and its appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of this state.
Although there is a dwelling-house on the east end of the lot, which the respondents claim as their homestead, owned by them, yet it is very clear that it has not been their dwelling-house for nearly ten years before the sale, and it is also equally clear that during all this time they owned the west end of the lot with the buildings and appurtenances, and occupied such buildings as a dwelling-house. We think this case fully as strong against the claim made by the respondents as the claim made by Jarvais and his wife in the case of Jarvais v. Moe, 38 Wis., 440. In that case the
It was suggested oil the argument that the respondents might have so selected their quarter acre out of the whole strip as to have included the house on the east end of the strip, and also that part of the buildings on the west end which had been occupied by them as a dwelling-house, and that they had a right to make such selection. We think they would not be authorized to do that. The quarter acre which is exempted as a homestead must be occupied solely for the purposes of a homestead. If there be two dwellings, or a dwelling and other buildings, on the quarter acre, one dwelling occupied as a homestead, and the other buildings leased to tenants, the houses so leased and the ground on which they stand are not exempt, unless in a case where the rented dwelling is occupied by servants who were employed in the family of the owner. This was so held by this court in Casselman v. Packard, 16 Wis., 114; Hoffman v. Junk, 51 Wis., 613.
It is clear that the respondents were not entitled to select the house on the east end of the lot as a part of their exempt homestead, and that the defendants have left a full quarter of an acre of the premises in a compact form, upon which the dwelling-house, barn, and appurtenances are situated, as their exempt homestead. If it be admitted that the respondents were not notified by the sheriff of the levy and sale on execution, and consequently they had no opportunity to select the premises which they claimed as their homestead, it does not appear from the evidence that they have suffered any injury by such want of notice and oppor
By the Court.— The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause remanded with directions to that court to dismiss the complaint.