Property Record
9335 COTTAGE ROW
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Graycliffe |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 48326 |
| Location (Address): | 9335 COTTAGE ROW |
|---|---|
| County: | Door |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Gibraltar |
| Unincorporated Community: | Fish Creek |
| Town: | 31 |
| Range: | 27 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 29 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1910 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Other |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | #650: Stone fence, 2 car garage. Historical Background This residence was originally constructed in 1890 as a barn for West Hanson and stood in what is now Peninsula State Park on the golf course where the totem pole stands. It was dismantled and stored until re-erected in 1910 as the summer residence for Grant and Ida Fitch of Milwaukee. Fitch was born in 1859 in Milwaukee, and graduated from Yale College in 1881. He was employed by the National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee from 1881 on. From 1886 to 1888 he was assistant cashier, then cashier to 1906, then became vice-president. In 1914 he was also a director in the Northwestern National Insurance Company at the National Exchange Bank. By his death in February of 1940, he had been president and board chairman of the old National Exchange bank. When the bank merged into the Marine National Exchange Bank he retired as an officer, but continued as a director. Upon his death the property apparently passed to his wife and son Eliot, a vice president of the Marine National Exchange Bank. The property is called Graycliffe. Historical Significance As with the other summer residences on Cottage Row, this property represents the pattern of living of wealthy urban midwesterners seeking to escape the heat of the cities. Mothers and children would spend the entire summer in Fish creek, while the fathers would visit as their business schedules would allow. In some cases, several generations and family branches would share the same house. Architectural Description This unusual house was originally a barn. It consists of a series of side gable log sections connected end to end. The main section is one story with attic. A large screen porch projects from the front toward the bay. The building rests on a stone foundation. The log notching is fairly crude square notching. Thick mortar now fills the space between logs. Multi-pane vertical casement windows are found throughout the house. Architectural Significance The home was only intended for summer use. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | A. Archibald Douglass Cottage Row Building List. B. Betsy Guenzel, Fish Creek, The Summertime, privately printed, 1991. C. Betsy Guenzel, September 2, 1992 interview with Rebecca Sample Bernstein, White Gull Inn, Fish Creek. D. Ellis Baker Usher. Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913. (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company) 1914. F. Wisconsin Necrology, volume 42, pp. 170-171. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |