| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. This structure is typical of 1920s apartment buildings utilizing Neo-Classical elements in its design.
2015- "The Millerand is located at 3035 W. Wisconsin Avenue. The U-shaped building faces east and has a similar setback to surrounding structures, with a grassy terrace featuring two mature trees, a grassy lawn, and concrete walkways that stretch south from a sidewalk on W. Wisconsin Avenue to the main entrance on the front (east) facade and also run adjacent to the building's north (side) and west (rear) elevations. A low metal fence extends from the northeast corner of the lot along its eastern boundary, demarcating the Millerand from the adjacent Village Inn. An asphalt surface lot at the rear of the property, with access from N. 31 81 Street, provides parking for the Millerand. A chain-link fence separates the parking lot from an adjacent apartment building at the southwest corner of the city block and the Village Inn and its parking lot to the east.
Designed by the Milwaukee architectural firm Martin Tullgren & Sons for real estate developer Morris Miller, the luxury apartment building was constructed in the Neo-Classical Revival style in 1925. It is eight stories tall with a partially exposed basement and partial ninth-floor penthouse. The structure rests on a masonry foundation and is clad in variegated brick with decorative terra cotta and copper accents. Brick stringcourses on the first two stories and wide terra cotta belt courses between the second and third stories and seventh and eighth stories wrap around the front (east) facade and north and west elevations of the building. Corners and projecting box bays are embellished with terra cotta quoins flanking spiral columns. Fenestration consists of one-over-one, double-hung, replacement sash windows, both paired and singular, with terra cotta sills, although a few original double-hung windows remain. In addition, several groupings of narrow double-hung windows are set in elaborate terra cotta window surrounds on the upper stories of the building. Projecting from the center of the roofline is a two-story tower with a copper hip roof and brick pilasters that, according to the original architectural drawings, was originally associated with the penthouse. It is attached to a lower atrium with round arched windows and a floriated copper cornice that caps what the original drawings describe as a ninth-floor playroom.
The front (east) facade encompasses a U-shaped courtyard with the building's main entrance at the center of the court. The original entry vestibule has a modern, enclosed, glass and metal canopy addition where residents now enter through a new north-facing door. On the older portion, "Millerand" is incised in the rounded terra cotta coping over the doorway. Multi-light windows and a floriated frieze and pilasters on the vestibule match the original building plans.
The facade is divided into three portions: the north and south sections, and the central courtyard with its inner-facing and center walls. The north and south sections are similar; they display a raised masonry foundation that is separated from the brick cladding by a stone stringcourse. The brick, which features stringcourse accents, is broken by windows with terra cotta panels with swag embellishments and, along the first story, terra cotta sills, a feature also present on the north and west (side) elevations. Above the entablature separating the second and third stories, which includes a simple architrave and floriated frieze and cornice, the variegated brick facing extends to a terra cotta belt course between the seventh and eighth stories. The eighth story on both the north and south section of the facade contains two central pairs of narrow, one-over-one windows flanked by floriated pilasters with scroll patterns, a carved terra cotta entablature, and a vegetal, castellated window hood. These central windows are flanked by two outer one-over-one windows that have geometric surrounds and are capped by medallions, terra cotta panels, and copper hoods along the roofline. All of these features are repeated on the inward-facing side walls of the light court. The central portion of the light court contains the raised ninth-floor playroom where three pairs of multi-light, arched windows with spiral column surrounds rest on bracketed terra cotta sills. This section is capped with copper coping along the roofline.
The north (side) elevation displays the same brick stringcourses, terra cotta panels, entablature, and belt course that are present on the front (east) facade. A shallow, five-story box bay on the west portion of the elevation is supported by paired decorative brackets below the entablature. The eighth story is broken into three portions: to the east and west, groupings of narrow, vertical windows feature intricate terra cotta sills, pilasters, and finial surrounds with a castellated window hood above the east grouping. At the center roofline a copper cornice gives way to a standing seam roof.
The west (rear) elevation, which fronts N. 31 51 Street, shares features with the north (side) elevation, including the brick stringcourses, entablature, and shallow five-story box bays on the north and south sections of the elevation with a copper standing seam roof stretching between them. Due to the descending grade of N. 31st Street, the basement story is fully exposed on the south portion of the elevation. A centrally located secondary entrance, which historically led to a dining room, displays carved pilasters with composite capitals and a header that reads "Millerand." Above the door a low balustrade and lead glass window are topped by a broken scroll pediment. Another entrance toward the south side of the building, which accessed a kitchen and may have been used for deliveries, is flanked by carved pilasters and capped with a round arch. Both doors have been replaced.
The south (side) elevation, fronting the rear parking lot, lacks ornamentation. The first story is comprised of concrete and the rest of the surface is clad in cream brick. The windows rest on concrete sills, and there is a column of paired lights at the center of the wall. An exterior brick chimney projects from the east portion of the elevation. Two modest rear doorways are located along the exposed basement story. One, a former service entrance, is at the center of the building and the other, which led to the building's fuel and boiler rooms, is just west of the chimney.
Interior
Although interior access to the Millerand was not permitted by the current owner, original architectural drawings reveal the building's design as a luxury complex (see the enclosed floorplans). Its lobby featured an archway entrance, grand staircase with slate treads and risers and volute newel posts, passenger elevators, and carved plaster cornice ornament. The basement level contained a kitchen, dining room with a separate entrance off N. 31st Street, locker room, and laundry facilities, in addition to transformer, boiler, and fuel rooms and living quarters for a janitor. The building originally contained 72 units, most of which included one or two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. Plans also indicate a top-floor penthouse and playroom, which consisted of a large open atrium with terrazzo floors. According to period advertisements for the building, these spaces may have been open to all residents rather than associated with a single apartment unit."
-"Millerand Apartment Building", WisDOT #2190-00-00, Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2015).
2014- "The Millerand Apartment building is an eight-story, Neo-Classical apartment building designed by Martin Tullgren & Sons in 1925 for real estate developer Morris Miller. It has a large L-shape plan resting on a raised masonry foundation. The first two stories have decorative brick corbeling and are separated from the rest of the building by a decorative stone frieze. At the southwest corner of the building is a projecting multi-story bay with classically inspired ornamentation such as quoins and twisted columns. The main entrance is at the “L” of the building, with a modern glass canopy. An additional entrance is located on the west elevation, fronting 31st Street. The door surround has elaborate carved pilasters with composite capitals. Above is a balustrade and a lead glass window. Windows are predominantly one-over-one, double-hung replacement sash."
-"W Wisconsin Ave, 20th St-35th St", WisDOT #2190-00-00, Prepared by Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2014).
Morris Miller was a Polish Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1887 and arrived in Milwaukee five years later. At first he established a clothing business with his brother and then turned to real estate in 1907. Over his career he developed many apartment complexes and constructed “hundreds” of homes (1). He was also a prominent member of Milwaukee’s Jewish community. The firm of Martin Tullgren and Sons, prominent apartment architects, designed the building and many others in downtown Milwaukee. They specialized in large, Period Revival apartment buildings.
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