Property Record
938-940 S LAYTON BLVD
Architecture and History Inventory
Historic Name: | LOUIS KRETSCHMAR HOUSE |
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Other Name: | |
Contributing: | Yes |
Reference Number: | 32206 |
Location (Address): | 938-940 S LAYTON BLVD |
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County: | Milwaukee |
City: | Milwaukee |
Township/Village: | |
Unincorporated Community: | |
Town: | |
Range: | |
Direction: | |
Section: | |
Quarter Section: | |
Quarter/Quarter Section: |
Year Built: | 1892 |
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Additions: | |
Survey Date: | 1992 |
Historic Use: | house |
Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
Structural System: | |
Wall Material: | Clapboard |
Architect: | Gustav H. Leipold & Co.; P. M. Christiansen |
Other Buildings On Site: | |
Demolished?: | No |
Demolished Date: |
National/State Register Listing Name: | South Layton Boulevard Historic District |
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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. C IN THE PHOTO CODES IS SHORT FOR CW. a.k.a 2628-32 W. Mineral St. Additions: 1922 rear addition 10x16. Original estimated cost was $10,000. The 1922 alteration cost $600. Historic Names: Louis Dretschmar was the original owner (1892-1896). He worked for Kretschmar Co. beef and pork packers. Gus H. Leipold and Co. were the original architects. P.M. Christensen was the architect in 1922. With its cone-roofed corner tower and wraparound veranda, the grand, Queen Anne style Kretschmar House beautifully exemplifies the late phase of this Victorian style. Skillful proportioning tempers the building's imposing volume using fenestration and extensive ornamental wooden shingling. On the Kretschmar House, largely intact, the facade is dominated by a single gable, the shingling is toned down to a single, dominant, fish-scale pattern, and plain Tuscan porch columns supplant the spindlework. Construction of houses like Kretschmar's helped establish Layton Boulevard as the near South Side's most prestigious residential thoroughfare, but never became the exclusive domain of the rich. Middle- and working-class citizens also moved into cottages, bungalows, duplexes, and foursquares along the same street. Louis Kretschmar, was a successful meatpacker, among the first of many South Side German-American merchants and professionals to leave older, more congested neighborhoods to the east and settle along Layton Boulevard. |
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Bibliographic References: | 12/15/1892 PERMIT. CITY DIRECTORY. BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 51. National Register Nomination Form. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |