Property Record
2107 WAUWATOSA AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Lowell Damon House |
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| Other Name: | DAMON, OLIVER, HOUSE |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 9031 |
| Location (Address): | 2107 WAUWATOSA AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Wauwatosa |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1844 |
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| Additions: | 1846 |
| Survey Date: | 2010 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Damon, Lowell, House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 2/23/1972 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. RETURNED EAVES, FRIEZE WINDOWS, PILASTERS. THE OVERALL SHAPE OF THE BUILDING IS COLONIAL, AS ARE MANY OF THE DETAILS BUT THERE ARE MANY GREEK REVIVAL DETAILS AS WELL. THE MAIN PART HAS BEEN CONVERTED TO A MUSEUM, A CARETAKER LIVES IN THE ELL. HABS WI-121. Oliver Damon, a carpenter and wheelwright, supposedly patterned this house after one in his hometown of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Damon used trees from the forest that then covered the area, squaring saplings for rafters and joists. Others were hewn and squared with an adze; tool marks are still visible on many pieces of timber. Like other early settlers’ houses, this one came in two stages. Oliver Damon built the original portion, now a small ell at the rear, when he first arrived in 1844. Two years later, he or his son Lowell built the main block, a one-and-one-half-story clapboard structure, two rooms wide and one room deep. A giant front-facing gable embraces the top half-story and attic. Greek Revival details include corner pilasters, prominent cornice returns, and diamond-paned frieze windows on the sides. Fenestration forms a pyramid around the central entrance. The Damon House was a Milwaukee County Historical Society museum. It is now privately owned. |
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| Bibliographic References: | WAUWATOSA NEWS TIMES 7/13/1995. MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL 6/16/1996. WAUWATOSA LANDMARKS, WAUWATOSA LANDMARKS COMMISSION, 1994. Redesignated as part of Wauwatosa Avenue Historic District, Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission, 2010. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. Perrin, Richard W. E., Historic Wisconsin Architecture, First Revised Edition (Milwaukee, 1976). https://www.milwaukeemag.com/oldest-home-wauwatosa-now-new-owners/ |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |