Property Record
28 E GILMAN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Napoleon B. & Laura S. Van Slyke House / Dr. Keenan House |
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| Other Name: | MANSION HILL APARTMENTS AND RESTORATION |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 37020 |
| Location (Address): | 28 E GILMAN ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
| Township/Village: | |
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| Year Built: | 1857 |
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| Additions: | 1870 |
| Survey Date: | 1991 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Second Empire |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | AUGUST KUTZBOCK |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Mansion Hill Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/4/1997 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/11/1997 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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. Madison Historic Landmark: 6/15/1971. Map code is 070914403038. VAN SLYKE NEVER LIVED IN THE HOUSE BECAUSE HIS WIFE DIED. Damaged by fire 1/30/1998. The original Rundbogenstil design had a profusion of round-arched windows and doors. In 1870, the owners added a mansard roof, in keeping with the Second Empire style, which was then in vogue. The roof has elaborate arched dormers and is crowned by a wrought-iron roof cresting. "The last of the four houses constructed on the Pinckney-Gilman corner is a dwelling that was designed in 1857 probably by August Kutzbock for Napoleon Bonaparte Van Slyke and his wife, Laura. However, the Yankee banker never lived in the house, and it appears that its first resident owner were Ellen and James Richardson, a close friend of the Van Slykes and a real estate speculator and banker. The original design is quite unusual and may be called German Romanesque revival. In 1870 the Second Empire style mansard roof was added. Dr. George Keenan, a prominent Madison physician and United States consul to Kiel and Bremen, Germany, and his wife, Mary, lived in the residence from 1900 to 1916." Madison's Pioneer Buildings: A Downtown Walking Tour, 1987. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. Sandstone and Buffalo Robes: Madison's historic buildings, third edition, 1975. Madison's Pioneer Buildings: A Downtown Walking Tour, 1987. Madison Houses 1836-1915 by Jill Moore Marx |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |