Property Record
821 S 3RD ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | EMIL DURR HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 16428 |
| Location (Address): | 821 S 3RD ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1875 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19881973 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Asphalt |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Walker's Point Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 12/19/1978 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Builder was John Rugee. This two story house is designed in the High Victorian Italianate style. Construction elements include a rectangular shaped plan configuration, a limestone foundation, an asphalt sided exterior, a wood trim and an asphalt shingled truncated hip roof. The residence is in good condition. 1973: "As the authors of Walker's Point: Two Walking Tours point out, Emil Durr was a very successful businessman: "One firm in which he had an interest was U. S. Gypsum, and he became the company's first treasurer. Another was the German-American Bank, in which he was the first president." Located on a large lot, his frame house was one of the more elaborate erected on the former Hanover Street (now Third Street) in the 1870s. And though the exterior has been altered over the years, the interior is said to retain much of its original ornament and character. Finally, the Durr house is southernmost in a trio of fine old homes all dating back from 1870-1875, at the southwest corner of South Third Street and West National Avenue. Alterations and Additions (as of 1973): the present siding was installed in 1944 and, presumably, at the same time some of some of the original exterior ornament was removed. On the interior, partitions on the second floor have been reset, and at least one wall has been built on the first floor. Nonetheless, portions of the original first story interior remain." A Guide to Historic Walker's Point, 1978: "Emil Durr, part owner of a prosperous lumber company, built this frame house on an empty lot for $5,500. A native Milwaukeean of German extraction, he lived here with his wife, a native of East Troy, New York until his death in 1915. Durr served as alderman, park commissioner, and in 1872 first president of the newly-formed German-American Bank at First and National." The house originally was highly ornamented, with decorated windows hoods and iron cresting, in an ornate, Italianate style. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Milwaukee Sentinel. B. BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 174. C. MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS TOUR: WALKER'S POINT (RESIDENTIAL), CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. National Register Nomination Form. Bell, Anna Laura, "Emil Durr House", Walker's Point Preservation District Inventory prepared for Land Ethics, Inc., Milwaukee, 1970, and sources cited. Palmer, Virginia A. and Wietczykowski, Mary Ellen, Walker's Point: Two Walking tours, Milwaukee, 1972, 27, 29. Historic Walker's Point, Inc., A Guide to Historic Walker's Point, 1978. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |