Property Record
1311 MILWAUKEE DR
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kestell Furniture Company |
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| Reference Number: | 224320 |
| Location (Address): | 1311 MILWAUKEE DR |
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| County: | Calumet |
| City: | New Holstein |
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| Year Built: | 1960 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2012 |
| Historic Use: | industrial building |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2013 New Holstein Survey results: This Contemporary-style furniture factory and office is comprised of a number of gabled, steel-frame units that are fronted by a flat-roofed wing along Milwaukee Drive. The “main plant,” as it’s referred to, is sheathed with orange-tone brick, while vertically oriented cedar boards are located beneath the steel sash windows of the office wing, as well as along the gabled ends of the outer buildings. The name “Kestell” in 1960s-era typeface remains along the south side of the building. Based on a 1964 photo of the facility, “Kestell Furniture” lettering also ran across the flat roof overhang that fronts the office wing and it also appears that the space beneath the windows was originally comprised of small tile. A largely non-descript, three-unit facility to the rear was erected in three stages in the early-to-mid-1960s. The main plant and office was constructed for the Kestell Furniture Company in 1960. The firm was organized by Orville Kestell in 1949 and first located at 1911 Wisconsin Avenue, the former woodworking/cabinet-making shop of his father. Born on 24 December 1920, Orville was the son of carpenter-contractor Arthur B. Kestell, who built a number of homes in New Holstein. Orville attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, after which he transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana, before his service in the engineering corps in World War II. He returned to New Holstein in 1945 and, five years later, he began the manufacture of children’s desks and chairs, as well as outdoor furniture. As of 1960 (and while still located at the Wisconsin Avenue location), the company employed twenty-five persons. Within six years, the firm included sixty-five employees and had expanded to include the production of poker tables, banquet tables, wooden folding chairs and pool tables. As of 2004, Kestell Furniture, which remains in business today, was cited as the country’s oldest and largest manufacturer of poker tables (and wooden folding chairs). |
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| Bibliographic References: | A 1964 photo of the structure is included in “New Holstein is Wisconsin,” Promotional pamphlet produced by the New Holstein Association of Commerce, 1964, Copy on file at the City of New Holstein; According to Bill Kestell, son of Orville Kestell, water had penetrated the tile and it was starting to come off. Bill’s uncle Don Kestell (a builder/contractor) proposed they replace the tiled areas with cedar siding, which remains today. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |