316 Oxford Rd

Summary

John and Florence Melster House
316 Oxford Road, Waukesha, Waukesha County
Architect: John Randal McDonald; contractor: Merrill York, York Builders
Date of Construction: 1955

Between 1950 and 1960, the population of Waukesha grew by approximately 30%, from 21,233 to 30,004. Among those moving to the city of Waukesha during this period was the John Melster family. Melster, along with his business partner, had recently moved their company--Dairyland Food Laboratories—to Waukesha and he wanted to live closer to work. The Melsters selected a lot on the growing southeast side of the city—one with a hilly terrain and trees--which many architects and/or builders would have found to be a challenge without first either leveling or clearing the site. Instead, the Melsters, who selected Racine-based John Randal McDonald as their architect, received a Contemporary style house design that was integrated into the existing hill and its designed allowed for the retention of many of the existing trees. Exhibiting strong horizontal lines through its flat rooflines, its cantilevered balcony and its large expanses of glass, the house was—and continues to be--a striking contrast to the more traditionally styled homes in the neighborhood.

Two years after the house was completed, the plans for the Melsters’ house, identified instead as plan #1914, were offered for purchase in the bi-annual publication, New Homes Guide. Although rather than concrete block walls, the exterior was rendered in brick. Aside from the wall material change and a provision for two options for the location of a carport, along with a slight shift of the front door, plan #1914, entitled “spectacular hilltop house,” was one and the same with the Melster plans. To date, two examples of plan #1914 have been identified; one in Minnesota and another in Michigan. Between 1955 and 1958, McDonald would have ten other plans published in that same publication, built examples of which have been found in a total of seven states, including Wisconsin.

It is a private home and is not open to the public.

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