Property Record
2220 N TERRACE AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Lloyd R. Smith House (SOPRA MARE) |
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| Other Name: | Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum |
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| Reference Number: | 27236 |
| Location (Address): | 2220 N TERRACE AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1924 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1986 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | David A. Adler |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Smith, Lloyd R., House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 12/30/1974 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | The carpenter was John Debbink and the masons were Charles Grunewald and Charles Dunlop. LOCALLY DESIGNATED 12/7/1982. HABS WI-272. ALSO LISTED IN THE NORTH POINT SOUTH HISTORIC DISTRICT. This bluff-top mansion was originally called Sopra Mare—Italian for "above the sea." Chicago architect David Adler cast the tile-roofed house, designed in 1924 for Lloyd Smith, in the then-popular Mediterranean Revival style. The house, as typical for the style, is oriented around a central courtyard, surrounded by an open-arcaded walkway. Central courtyards were common to medieval monastic buildings, and they were often incorporated into the design of Italian and Spanish villas during the Renaissance. Although a charming and functional feature for houses in mild climes like Italy, open-courtyard houses are rare and impractical in colder regions like Wisconsin. Nevertheless, in the center of Smith House courtyard, an eight-foot-tall stone statue of the Greek god Hermes braves the winter cold. Master Milwaukee craftsman Cyril Colnik forged the fine wrought-iron gate, sconces, and door hardware. The villa's interior contains still other Mediterranean-style decorative features, such as the living room's beamed and hand-stenciled cypress ceiling (artesonado), stone fireplaces, handmade door hardware, handsome period furnishings, and original lighting fixtures. The house became the decorative-arts museum, Villa Terrace, when the original owners donated the building to Milwaukee County in 1966. |
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| Bibliographic References: | THE CONSTRUCTION DATE AND NAME OF ARCHITECT ARE FROM THE BUILDING PERMIT. SOPRA MARE IS ON THE BUILDING. MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS TOUR: NORTH POINT, CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |