In 1915, West Bend native Robert H. Rolfs started manufacturing leather billfolds with one employee. Just nine years later, he employed 178 people and had completed construction of the Amity Leather Products Company Factory in West Bend.

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Amity Leather Products Company Factory, 1977

West Bend, Wisconsin. Entrance tower prior to renovation. View the property record: AHI 14713

The long, narrow, multi-story building fit the textile mill industrial loft style popular at the time. As the company grew, Rolfs added a central three-story block and a seven-story, Art Deco-influenced tower in 1929. By the mid-1930s Amity Leather Products was the world's largest manufacturer of billfolds and another wing was added in 1933. Production continued at the factory until 1996, when manufacturing was moved overseas.

In 2001, Stone House Development, Inc., of Madison, WI, recognized that this architecturally distinctive factory might be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Plus, its multi-story form, which optimized light and ventilation on the factory floor, also made the building well suited to convert to apartments.

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Amity Leather Products Company Factory, 2003

West Bend, Wisconsin. Entrance tower after renovation. View the property record: AHI 14713

The firm completed renovation of the historic building into 36 multi-family, mixed-income apartments in 2002. The conversion required few exterior changes to the building, which had been well maintained over the years. It did replace the steel factory sash windows, which had been previously altered by the addition of aluminum vents. The interior incorporated the exposed steel and timber ceiling structure as a primary design feature to capture the industrial historic character of the building.

The property received a 2004 Historic Preservation Award for renovation, rehabilitation and re-use by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Read more about the history of West Bend's Amity Leather Building in the historic property record on our website.