Property Record
2430 E NEWBERRY BLVD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | DR. THOMAS ROBINSON BOURS HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 27918 |
| Location (Address): | 2430 E NEWBERRY BLVD |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1921 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1991 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Prairie School |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | RUSSELL BARR WILLIAMSON |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Newberry Boulevard Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/7/1994 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 7/9/1993 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | WILLIAMSON TRAINED IN THE OFFICE OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. THE PROPERTY ALSO FEATURES A RARE, ORIGINAL, PRAIRIE STYLE IRON FENCE ON THE N. STOWELL AVE. SIDE OF THE LOT. BOURS WAS A PHYSICIAN WHO LIVED IN THE HOUSE THROUGH 1931. AS OF 1932, ONLY MRS. EMMA BOURS LIVED HERE. BY 1940 WILLIAM J. MCKILLIP WAS THE OCCUPANT. Photo code is CW3-14. Designed by Russell Barr Williamson, who had worked in the office of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Bours House is one of Milwaukee's most outstanding Prairie School examples. It borrows substantially from Wright's Bogk House (MI158) and is often mistaken for one of Wright's works. Hired by physician Thomas Robinson Bours, Williamson designed a two-story, rectangular brick house with a one-story sunroom on the Stowell Avenue side. He gave it such Prairie hallmarks as a low-pitched hipped roof, widely overhanging eaves, and abstract art-glass ribbon windows on the second story. The cast-concrete decorative tiles cladding the second story rank among the most interesting examples of decorative work in the city. A very rare, original Prairie style iron fence encloses the backyard. The Bours House is a late example of this style that peaked between 1900 and 1915. Strongly associated with the Midwest, the style was mostly limited to expensive residential projects. |
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| Bibliographic References: | PERMIT. CITY DIRECTORIES. BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 56. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. Wright and Like 2011: Milwaukee Originals June 10th Through 12th, FLW FDN, Scottsdale AZ, 2011. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |