Property Record
1420 E CAPITOL DR
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ALLEN APARTMENT BUILDING 1 |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 150801 |
| Location (Address): | 1420 E CAPITOL DR |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Shorewood |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1929 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2008 |
| Historic Use: | apartment/condominium |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | F. H. OPPITZ |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' (Allen Apartment Buildings) 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. The Allen Apartment Building I was constructed at the height of the 1920s era of apartment building along Capitol Drive in Shorewood. It has a twin next door (1428 East Capitol) and they both appear to have been constructed as "luxury" apartments in this Milwaukee suburb that developed into a middle and upper-middle class residential area. It was built by F. H. Oppitz, a Milwaukee builder. It is one of a two identical apartment buildings. 2008- "The Allen Apartment Building I is one of a two-building group of identical apartment buildings constructed in 1929 for the original owner, Allen Buildings. It is a three-story brick building on a raised basement and has a rectangular plan. The main or south elevation, along with the two side elevations are clad in a finished dark tan brick, wlrile the rear or north elevation is clad with a rougher, lighter colored, brick. The architectural details are also confined to the main and side elevations and are Tudor Revival in style. These details include a parapet roof with insets suggesting battlements and curved arches suggesting medieval castle towers, tabbed window surrounds and quoins of smooth stone, paired and tripartite multi-light windows, and a "gothic" type stone frontispiece accenting the main entrance. The main entrance consists of a double door under a Tudor arch decorated by a cast stone frontispiece. The doors, themselves, are constructed of two raised panels accented at the center with a !mob sitting under a leaded glass diamond pattern window. A Tudor-arched transom with the identical glazing as the doors sits on top of the entrance. The stone frontispiece consists of flanking pilasters with vertically-accented panels and stylized capitals. The top has four decorated panels divided by a shield. Two of the panels have the same motif as the wood entry doors, while the other two panels are filled with quatrefoils. Period fixtures accent this part of the frontispiece." - "E Capitol Dr, Estabrook Pkwy to Lake Dr", WisDOT ID #2025-12-011", Prepared by Carol Lohry Cartwright (2009). |
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| Bibliographic References: | VILLAGE OF SHOREWOOD BUILDING PERMIT FILES. Architecture/History Survey, October 2008. Prepared by Carol Lohry Cartwright. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |