| 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, State Historic Preservation Office.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Well-conserved early farmhouse built of Cream City brick and limestone mortar with both Greek Revival and Italianate elements.
Construction date, late 1850's or early 1860's. (1, 2, 3)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
One of the few remaining houses of early farmsteads in outlying Milwaukee, located on what was formerly the Lisbon Plank Road. Although the tax program lists the construction date as 1836, this is undoubtedly too early, as the original land grant (SW Qtr. Sect. 9-7-21) was in 1839, from the Territory of Wisconsin to Maurice and Elizabeth Pixler, who then sold it to Martin and Caroline Curtis in 1840. George Washington Brown and his wife Minerva L. Brown purchased 80A (the eastern half of the qtr. section) in 1948, and it is believed that he is the one who built the house. Brown originally came from Peterborough, New Hampshire, but was not mentioned in the biographies of early Wauwatosa Township settlers by Watrous, or by the 1876 atlas. Brown obtained a mortgage for $250 from Leander Comstock in 1850, and one for $600 in 1863 from David Richards of Bethany, New York. The 1858 Atlas, however, shows no house on 80A. By 1876, the date of the next county atlas, a house is shown 70.5A, though it is not individually illustrated. Mrs. Rasmussen, who was born in the house in 1890's, said that it was built about 1850 (Jablonski). Thus, although the exact date of construction has not been determined, research so far indicates that the house was built in the 1850' or early 1860's.
George W. and Minerva Brown Residence, 1848-81. (1)
Geo. (John?) Marshall Brown (son) Residence, 1880's. (1)
John and Herman Burbach Residence, 1891-1896. (1)
Louis J. Jablonski Residence, Present. (1)
2023: The Brown Residence’s footprint consists of three rectangular sections: the house, rear addition, and garage addition. The house was constructed c. 1875, it is two stories tall and is constructed of load-bearing, cream brick walls, accented by a smooth stone water table, and resting on a brick foundation. The rear addition is one story and constructed of load-bearing, cream brick walls, accented by a simple brick water table, and resting on a parged foundation. Lastly, the garage addition is a one-story frame building with horizontal wood siding and a concrete foundation. The house and rear addition have front-gabled roofs with overhanging eaves and the garage addition has a half-hip roof. All roofs are clad in asphalt shingles.
The façade (north elevation) is divided into three fenestration bays, with the entrance located in the westernmost bay. The main entrance has a simple wood surround and contains a wood storm door that covers a wood door with two round arched windows. The opening has a smooth stone lintel and is approached by a simple concrete stoop with metal hand rails. Windows are six-over-six, double hung, wood sashes with smooth stone sills and lintels and fixed shutters. There is a double, round arched opening enclosed with louvers centered below the gable peak.
A one-story porch spans the width of the east (side) elevation. It is topped with a half-hip roof that is supported by square brick columns with concrete capitals. The brick used on the columns has red and orange hues. The wood deck is approached by simple concrete stoops. The west half of the façade contains a secondary entrance that is flanked by six-over-six, double hung, wood windows. The door and windows have smooth stone lintels and the windows have smooth stones sills and fixed shutters. Two identical windows are located on the second story, directly above the first story windows. There are two identical, two-story fenestration bays roughly centered on the west (side) elevation. The easternmost bay contains a smaller, one-over-one, double hung wood window with a smooth stone sill and lintel. A brick chimney pierces the west slope of the roof.
The one-story, rear addition extends from the south elevation. The east and west elevations both contain two, regularly spaced, one-over-one, double hung, wood sash windows. The windows have smooth stone sills, segmental brick arches, and are covered by aluminum storm windows. A brick chimney pierces the gable peak at the rear of the addition.
The garage addition extends from the south elevation of the rear addition. The east elevation contains two garage stalls enclosed with modern segmental overhead doors and a wooden pedestrian door set within a simple wood surround. Two regularly spaced, six-over-six, double hung, wood windows are located on the west and south elevations. The windows have simple wood sills and surrounds.
Shortly after the completion of Lisbon Plank Road, the eastern half of the Curtis property, roughly eighty acres, was purchased by George Washington and Minerva L. Brown. The Browns constructed a home shortly after in 1850; maps show a home constructed on the north side of Lisbon Plank Road in both 1858 and 1869. In 1870, two acres of the Brown farmstead was sold to Christian Hartkie. And by 1879, the northwest corner of the property, situated north of Lisbon Plank Road and containing the original farmhouse, had been sold to P. Apholdt. A map from that year shows a second Brown farmhouse, the subject property, on the south side of the road. Therefore, the George Washington Brown Residence was constructed c. 1875. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 1. Milwaukee County Registry of Deeds: Grantor-Grantee Index and Property Deeds.
2. "Illustrated Index of Milwaukee County", (H. Belden and Co., 1876).
3. Interview with Louis Jablonski, Owner, May, 1979.
4. Watrous, Jerome, "Memoirs of Milwaukee County", 1909, p. 221-229.
2023:
Chapman, Silas and S. Compton Smith. Map of the County and City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 100 Feet:1 Inch. Milwaukee: Chapman & Smith, 1869.
Epeneter, George F. Map of the County and City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scale not given. Milwaukee: The Milwaukee Litho. & Engr. Co., 1879.
“Real Estate Sales: Towns,” The Daily Milwaukee News, May 15, 1870.
Walling, H.F. Map of the County of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 2 Inches:1 Mile. New York: M.H. Tyler, 1858. |
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