Property Record
2449 N DOWNER AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Milwaukee Protestant Home |
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| Other Name: | Eastcastle Place |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 97207 |
| Location (Address): | 2449 N DOWNER AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1892 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1979 |
| Historic Use: | nursing home/sanitarium |
| Architectural Style: | French Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | H.C. Koch |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Milwaukee Protestant Home for the Aged |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/10/2023 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/24/2023 |
| 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 Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. In 1884, a group of local Protestant women saw the need to provide care for homeless, yet "respectable" elderly people. The home quickly outgrew its rented building downtown, so construction began in 1891 on the new structure’s first stage on Downer Avenue. Henry Koch styled the home on the stately châteaux of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France, evident in its steeply pitched, highly detailed roof, towers and gables. The elaborate gable on the broad entrance pavilion, and its framing towers, are consistent with the style. Its many additions over the years transformed the institution—or “château”—to resemble a fashionable resort hotel, with its long, rambling profile and long verandas. Koch designed a wing reaching north along Downer Avenue terminating in a front-facing gable, built in 1897. In 1926, local architects Fitzhugh Scott and MacDonald Mayer added a large south wing facade to create a more uniform Châteauesque appearance. Since World War II, four additions have been attached to the rear of the building. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |