Property Record
1700 E CHATEAU PL
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Shorecliff Apartments |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 199124 |
| Location (Address): | 1700 E CHATEAU PL |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Whitefish Bay |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1923 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | apartment/condominium |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | The Village of Whitefish Bay has had a zoning code in effect since 1922, the majority of the village being zoned for single-family residential development. In 1938, the village board passed an ordinance regulating building heights, requiring single-family houses to conform in height to existing houses within 70 feet from it. The following year, in 1939, a Plan Commission was established to advise village officials on planning in the areas of streets, sidewalks, street lighting, landscaping, traffic control, storm sewers, parking, and recreational facilities. That same year, the village adopted a new zoning code, since amended, which is enforced by the village building inspector. Since 1969, the village has employed professional planning staff to advise village officials on land use and other urban planning issues. Following the construction of Whitefish Bay’s first apartment building at 1700 E. Chateau Place in 1923, village residents were largely opposed to additional multi-family residential development in the village. This was evidenced by the attitudes of both residents and the village governance at a village board meeting in the summer of 1930 at which Village President Frank Klode strongly stated his desire for the village to remain strictly single-family residential in character. In 1934, a committee was formed to advertise the village as a residential area to promote strictly single-family residential development during and after the Great Depression. E. Ray Tompkins was the builder of Whitefish Bay’s first apartment building, Shorecliff Apartments, in 1923. Tompkins began construction before receiving a building permit from the village, consequently suffering legal action by the village and spurring anti-apartment sentiments in the village. Later Tompkins became notorious for murdering his wife by beheading her in the apartment building. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Building permit records on file at Whitefish Bay Village Hall. A Study of Whitefish Bay Government: It’s Form and Function. Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin: League of Women Voters of Whitefish Bay, 1964. Whitefish Bay Historical Research Project. Volumes 2 & 14. Mimi Bird Collection, Whitefish Bay: Whitefish Bay Public Library Whitefish Bay – Then and Now. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: League of Women Voters of the North Shore of Milwaukee County Wisconsin, 1970. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |