Property Record
1681 N PROSPECT AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Emanuel D. Adler House |
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| Other Name: | Symmetry IT |
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| Reference Number: | 27776 |
| Location (Address): | 1681 N PROSPECT AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1888 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19862010 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
| Architect: | Alfred C. Clas |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Adler, Emanuel D., House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 9/13/1991 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/18/1991 |
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| 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. ERA case 6/1982. Original construction cost was $15,000. Fred Warner - Builder. A survey on 08/06/1979 cites the "tax program" as listing 1881 as a date of construction. This structure is an excellent example of Victorian residences. It is in fine condition and surprisingly retained its original form and design. Its eclectic design exudes a profusion of detail and is clearly influenced by the Queen Anne and Victorian Romanesque. Of special note is the variety of materials used in its construction, which has resulted in a pleasing, picturesque effect. Was known as Elizabeth House until 2006. Resurveyed as part of Milwaukee Downtown Connector Arch/History Survey (2010), Prepared by Heritage Research. Emanuel Adler’s family clothing business was very successful in the 1880s. While plans were in the works for his seven-story Romanesque Revival style factory on North Water Street, he hired Alfred Clas to design a similarly high-style home for his family in Milwaukee’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Its elegant entry portal has granite columns with carved sandstone capitals that support a carved Superior sandstone arch and conical three-story turret. Adler’s Romanesque-Revival mansion is richly built, from its random ashlar, rusticated limestone first story, to its red pressed- brick second story, to its attic and gable level clad in red terracotta fishscale shingles. At the entrance, paneled oak, double-leaf doors with decorative metal strap hinges and carved foliated panels open to an oak-wainscoted vestibule. Foliated carvings on the massive newel post wind up a curved oak staircase. Freestanding colonettes frame the glazed tile fireplace that stretches from the living room floor to its oak-beamed ceiling. Opulent elements of this Gold Coast mansion remain intact despite its conversion to apartments in the 1930s. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Historic name, date of construction: building permit. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 5/26/2000. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 3/9/1997. Zimmerman, p. 94. Milwaukee Sentinel 12/16/1888. Tax Program. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |