Property Record
10829 W MEQUON RD / STATE HIGHWAY 167
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Gerhard & Irene Hilgendorf House |
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| Reference Number: | 229241 |
| Location (Address): | 10829 W MEQUON RD / STATE HIGHWAY 167 |
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| County: | Ozaukee |
| City: | Mequon |
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| Year Built: | 1952 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20142022 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Board |
| Architect: | Russell Barr Williamson |
| Other Buildings On Site: | N |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Gerhard Hilgendorf was born on 20 June 1905 in the Town of Mequon to Martin and Elenora Hilgendorf. The Hilgendorf family history in Mequon dates to the 1840s and the Freistadt settlement. He married Irene Gierach (b. 1913) and the couple had five children. Hilgendorf was a builder who, in the 1950s, partnered with realtors to build and sell homes, as well as develop subdivisions. A 1955 advertisement cited him as a builder of “Scholz California Contemporary Homes” in Mequon’s Town & Country Subdivision. Hilgendorf had worked with Russell Barr Williamson in the past and hired him to design the subject home, which was constructed in 1952 and included a basement office for Gerhard’s business. Although Hilgendorf had built several other Contemporary-style homes, his wife, Irene, “couldn’t quite see our family in any of them” until Hilgendorf began building Williamson-designed houses, at which time, she stated in a Milwaukee Journal article about the house, “The first one I saw decided me. It was warm and inviting, yet practical and workable. I couldn’t think of having anything else.” The family’s time in the home was brief. Gerhard died in 1957 (Irene remarried and died in 1977) and the house soon was sold to a Dr. Asma, who had a home practice in the basement office area. The current owners purchased the property in 2013 from Howard L. Austin and Teri Shapiro. 2022 - House resurveyed by HRL. Little apparent change. Update photo. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Original Plans. Census. Lois Hagen, “Roomy and Rugged: Home Designed for a Big Family,” Milwaukee Journal, 23 May 1956. Russell Barr Williamson, Jr., "Russell Barr Williamson, Architect: A Collection" (Hot Springs, NC: The Barr Brand, 2000), 81-82. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |