Property Record
1615 S LAYTON BLVD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | JOSEPHINE AND DR. URBAN A. SCHLUETER HOUSE |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 30368 |
| Location (Address): | 1615 S LAYTON BLVD |
|---|---|
| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1923 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Arts and Crafts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Walter Truettner |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | South Layton Boulevard Historic District |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | 4/24/1996 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 4/25/1995 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. Original cost $10000. Dr. Urban A. Schlueter original owner 1923-early 1940s (CD) Physician-surgeon Natl. Greenfield Avenue. A related building is a 1923 garage. Walter G. Truettner was the builder. Representative 20th century residential design in Ald. District 8. In Milwaukee after about 1907, a more generalized and cheaper form of romantic Old World cottage architecture remained popular with the middle class into the 1920s. Inspired by rustic German cottages, as idealized in storybook illustrations, greeting cards, and postcards, Urban Schlueter's home epitomized the 1920s quest for domestic charm. The house is a picturesque Hansel-and-Gretel cottage; something imagined in an Eastern European village or painted as a German opera stage backdrop. Narrow brick walls frame the stone-trimmed, round-headed entry. Wall accents include stone pieces topped by bulbous balusters supporting a distinctive tile hood. Four windows group below a narrow drip molding. A polygonal bay with false-half-timbering wraps the north corner. This house's steeply pitched, red-tile roof conceals a full second story, punctuated by twin stuccoed dormers. Its builder-designer Walter Truettner, dubbed "the Bungalow Man," designed unusual bungalows and one-of-a-kind cottages. Though Truettner did some design work on his own houses, he also employed architect Ray C. Dieterich in the early 1920s. The Schlueter House, built for a Milwaukee physician, may reflect Dieterich's influence. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | CITY DIRECTORIES. PERMIT. MILWAUKEE ETHNIC HOUSES TOUR, CITY OF MILAWUKEE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT, 1994. National Register Nomination Form. Tax Program. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |