Situated north of Milwaukee's "gold coast," which stretched along Prospect Avenue, the Prospect Hill neighborhood benefited from its proximity to one of the city's most desirable addresses. Prospect Hill's bluff top location overlooking Lake Michigan helped attract Milwaukee's successful business, industrial and civic leaders. Frederick Law Olmstead's picturesque Lake Park, begun in 1894, spurred the neighborhood's rapid growth.

The Prospect Hill neighborhood contains the oldest concentration of houses in the area north of the nearby 1874 Gothic style North Point Water Tower. Most were built between 1894 and 1909 and exemplify the residential styles most popular with Milwaukee's upper middle class. Notable for their high quality materials and for their excellent design, many were the work of notable Milwaukee architects and designers. The neighborhood's exceptional examples of very early Georgian Revival, Neo-Classical Revival, and Colonial Revival Style residential designs stand out. Two of the finest examples, the Major James Sawyer House and the George Douglass House, are located across from one another at 2704 and 2705 N. Shepard Avenue. Both were built in 1895 and are the work of Milwaukee architect William D. Kimball, who designed eight houses during the neighborhood¿s first two years.

The homes in this neighborhood are private residences. Please respect the privacy of the residents.