Property Record
761 N 25TH ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Fred Sivyer House |
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| Reference Number: | 17097 |
| Location (Address): | 761 N 25TH ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1888 |
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| Additions: | 1904 |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Wood Shingle |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Sivyer, Fred, House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/16/1986 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Multiple Resources of West Side Area |
| 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, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. Description: The Fred W. Sivyer House is a high style Queen Anne residence. It is two strories in height with an attic level and sits on a foundation of rock-faced, coursed ashlar limestone. The same stone forms the base of the front porch. Asymmetrical in plan, the massing is centered around a rectangular block with a steeply pitched hip roof that broadly slopes down the main facade over the front porch. From the main block project a series of gables. The Sivyer House is of frame construction and the exterior is completly covered with clapboards, shingles and ornamental panels. This multiplicity of surface material and pattern has produced facades of great textural variety that are distinctively different from each other. The main entry has double-leaf, paneled doors sheltered by the front porch. Above this is a gabled dormer with a broad round-arched window. Also of note is the segmental oriel projecting from the attic level on the main facade with its Queen Anne style sash. The windows are wooden, double-hung sash. The Sivyer House is located in a densely built neighborhood whose development began in the late 1880's. The lot, larger than average for the neighborhood at 60 x 120 feet, is almost totally covered by the house. Across the street is the former Milwaukee County Dispensary and Emergency Hospital (NRHP-1985). Changes to the Sivyer House have been minimal. The exterior is virtually intact with little or no change to the form, design and details. Fire escapes have been installed on the north and south facades and the front window has been replaced. Architectural/Engineering Significance: The Fred W. Sivyer House is locally significant as an important example of Queen Anne Style residential architecture. Although the architect is unknown, the Sivyer House exemplifies the era of Victorian "Queen Anne" houses when master builders would produce well-crafted residences from a set of stock plans. The Sivyer House has long been considered to be one of the fine Queen Anne Style houses in the City. Shortly after it was built in 1888, the "Illustrated Annual Review of Milwaukee" (1889) featured the house as one of the best new residences of the year. In the context of the broad range of Queen Anne houses that were built in Milwaukee, there are few other all-frame residences that are as well preserved as the Sivyer House that also so well exemplify the picturesque qualities of 1880's Queen Anne domestic architecture. Associated History: Fred W. Sivyer was a native of Milwaukee, born here in 1848. He was educated in the public schools and worked in a variety of jobs before deciding on a career in industrial management and education. In 1880 he formed a corporation that would later become Northwestern Malleable Iron Company. When he built this house on North 25th Street, he was secretary of the company and in 1895 was made its president. He lived in this house for two more years. In 1897 he moved to a mansion on West Wisconsin Avenue (razed) where he accomplished his most notable achievements as a businessman. Sivyer was nationally recognized for introducing industrial education to Milwaukee and helped establish the city's first trades school. Sivyer died on June 11, 1910 at his home on Wisconsin Avenue. (C). |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Milwaukee City Directories, 1865-1910. B. Milwaukee Blue Books, 1892-1911. C. Milwaukee Sentinel, June 11, 1910. D. "Illustrated Annual Review of Milwakee Trades and Industries." Milwaukee: Milwaukee Sentinel, 1890 p. 87. E. Tax Program. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |