| 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. EYEBROW DORMERS. STONE BELT COURSES. DORIC ENTRANCE PORTICOS. FARM/RESORT GIVEN TO MASONS CA. 1905.
This building is not extant. Designed by architect Armand Koch, it was a two-story, brick-veneered building with a hip roof. Identified as Renaissance Revival in style, it was erected in 1923, and demolished in 2020.
2024: In 1905, Willard Van Brunt gifted the Elisha Edgerton farm property (AHI #7483) to the Wisconsin Consistory. Willard, a mason himself, hoped the property would become the foundation for a Masonic home that would be a “…refuge to all members of the fraternity, without regard to their financial circumstances.” The Wisconsin Consistory spent $30,000 making improvements to the property over the next year, including remodeling the mansion into a 22-room guest house with gas and running water. The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin became the property’s owner in 1916.
In 1922, construction began across the street from the farm on the Wisconsin Consistory Home (Van Brunt Hall). In addition to the hall, a Spring House (AHI #12504), hospital (AHI #12503), and garage were constructed (AHI #242164). |
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| Bibliographic References: | Dousman History. “Dousman History”. Four Summits Web Services. Last Modified 2020. Access September 24, 2020. Http://dousmanhistory.org/dousman-history.
Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. “Village of Dousman.” Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. Last Modified 2016. Accessed September 24, 2020. https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/village-of-dousman.
Excelsior Publishing Co. Portrait and Biographical Record: Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Excelsior Publishing Co, 1894.
Foote, C.M, and J.W. Henion. Plat Book of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Minneapolis, Minn.: C.M. Foote and Co., 1891.
Geo. A. Ogle and Co. Waukesha County Wisconsin. Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle and Co., 1914.
Gould, Robert Freke. A Concise History of Freemasonry. London: Gale & Polden, Ltd, 1904.
Haight, Theron W, ed. Memoirs of Waukesha County. Madison, Wisconsin: Western Historical Association, 1907.
Harrison and Warner, Waukesha County. Madison, Wisconsin: Harrison and Warner, 1873.
Mackey, Albert Gallatin, William Singleton, and William James Hughan. The History of Freemasonry: Its Legends and Traditions Its Chronological History. New York: The Masonic History Company, 1898, 1905.
Salkin, Phillip. “Masonic Home Historic District, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.” National Park Service: Wisconsin Word Processing Format prepared for the Wisconsin Historical Society, June 27, 1994.
United States Department of Agriculture. Waukesha County [air photo]. 1:30,000. Photo 17-1555. Wisconsin. July 29, 1937, accessed July 2020, https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/WHAIFinder/#17/43.01984/-88.45737.
Western Historical Company. The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880.
Wisconsin Historical Society. “Waukesha, Wisconsin – A Brief History.” Wisconsin Historical Society Library – Archives. Last modified 2009. Accessed September 24, 2020. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2483.
Wyatt, Barbara L, ed. Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin: A Manual for Historic Properties. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986.
“Gift For The Masons,” Watertown News, November 29, 1905.
“Masons Owned Mansion,” Waukesha Daily Freeman, June 14, 1973. |
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