Historical Highlands

October 15, 2020

Historically appropriate Street Lighting project

The WHHPC, in conjunction with the WHA Board, has been researching and pursuing replacement of the City Street lights in the Highlands with Historically appropriate fixtures for well over a decade, and now that the City of Wauwatosa is replacing all city fixtures with LED lights, we have a window of opportunity to get this project done if we can get enough support from the neighborhood to have the lights replaced and paid for with a special assessment. We need your support! Please sign the petition here.

The process is straightforward – we ask the City Council to approve a special assessment to the neighborhood, they review at a public hearing, approve it, spend the money on the fixtures that we have researched and sourced, and install them. Then the City adds a special assessment to the tax bill for all 376 properties in the Highlands. That can be paid in full in the year it’s assessed, or spread over 5 years worth of tax bills.

This FAQ has more details.

1741_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988
May 6, 2017

1741 Alta Vista Ave 1960

Year of Construction: 4/22/1960
Architect: Wm. P. Wenzler
Contractor: Richard E. Capstran
Building Material: Wood
Original Owner: Richard E. Capstran
Original Value: $26,000


 

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1738_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1738 Alta Vista Ave

1738_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

Year of Construction: 2/13/1950
Architect: Verner Esser
Contractor: Verner Esser
Building Material: Brick & Stone Veneer
Architecture Style: English Country
Original Owner: Dr. E.M. Rice
Original Value: $20,000


 

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1731_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1731 Alta Vista Ave

1731_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

Year of Construction: 12/15/1952
Architect: A.N. Chaconas
Contractor: Shoreland Realty & Construction Co.
Building Material: Stone & Red Wood
Original Owner: Mr. & Mrs. Tom Terris
Original Value: $28,000


 

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1726_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1726 Alta Vista Ave

1726_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988
Previous Address: 354 Alta Vista Ave
Year of Construction: 2/4/1931
Building Material: Brick & Stucco
Original Owner: Wm. C. Tannhaeuser


 

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1723_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1723 Alta Vista Ave

1723_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

Previous Address: 349 Alta Vista Ave
Year of Construction: 9/21/1926
Architect: Jas B. Cowper
Contractor: Jas B. Cowper
Building Material: Tan Brick
Original Owner: Geo F. Maas
Original Value: $20,000


 

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1716_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1716 Alta Vista Ave

1716_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

This home is the “youngest” on tour this year and is more appropriately termed French Eclectic in style.  It shares many of the same characteristics as the English-inspired Tudors, the single defining feature that separates it from the others is its rounded entrance tower topped with a conical roof. More typically, French Eclectic-style homes are also topped with a hipped roof, but this example is gabled.

It was designed and built in 1930 by Roy C. Otto, who worked as a designer/contractor for about ten years.  The house is believed to be among the last that he produced before spending the rest of his life operating bowling alleys in Milwaukee.

The home’s original owners were engineering expert Theodore Mickelson, who was born about 1871, and his wife Anna.  They remained here for three years.  The house was then sold to August Irving and Myra Scherer, who lived there for the next four years (until 1937).

The Scherer family has either owned or rented a total of three WHS tour homes featured over the last five years.  A special thank you to the Scherer family for continuing to share historic family photos of each of them.

For the next nearly 50 years, the home was owned by businessman and part-time author and playwright, Laurence Gross and his wife, Helen (1937-1965) followed by Thomas and Jeanette Sommers (1965-1986).

Until 1986, the vacant lot adjacent to the south was associated with this house.  That year, the lot and the existing swimming pool were sold off and incorporated into the lot to the east.

When the current owners bought the house, the floors were covered with thick green carpeting and the woodwork had been painted.  They removed the carpeting and have, over the years, painstakingly stripped the woodwork.

Among improvements they made to the home are a family room addition, kitchen remodeling and the extensive terracing on the hill to the rear.

Research on this home was provided by the Wauwatosa Historical Society for its “Tudors of the Washington Highlands,” home tour conducted on October 4, 2014

Previous Address: 346 Alta Vista Ave
Year of Construction: 1/31/1930
Original Owner: Theodore Mickelson
Architect: Roy C. Otto
Contractor: Roy C. Otto
Original Value: $13,500


 

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1709_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1709 Alta Vista Ave

1709_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

Year of Construction: 6/26/1956
Architect: Doll Construction Co.
Contractor: Doll Construction Co.
Building Material: Red Brick Veneer
Original Owner: A. Fritz
Original Value: $26,000


 

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1651_Alta_Vista_Ave_2015
May 6, 2017

1651 Alta Vista Ave

1651_Alta_Vista_Ave_1988

In April 1926, construction started on the $40,000 home of Ernest and Burdell Swendson at 1651 Alta Vista Ave.   The period revival home exhibits many of the style’s primary characteristics, including a dominant front-facing gabled entry; multiple-light, leaded-glass windows; stone, brick or stucco and false half-timber sheathing (or a combination thereof); wood-shingle, slate or tile-covered gabled roofs; and a dominant chimney.

After working as the manager of the Schlitz Brewing Company in East Grand Forks, ND, Ernest Swendson (born 1885) returned to his native city and started one of the earliest Ford dealerships in Milwaukee. Swendson Ford was established in 1915 at present-day S. 20th and W. National Ave. It no longer is standing.  The dealership went out of business in 1979.  By then, the business was run by his grandson, Thomas.

The Swendsons had four children.  Dorothy, the eldest, was married at the house in 1934. Ernest retired in 1942 and the family remained in the house through at least 1949.  They also owned a house near Lake Beulah, north of East Troy, where they eventually would move after selling the house in the 1950s to the second and only other owners.

The house, comprised of more than 5,500 square feet of living space, was designed by Buemming & Guth.  It contains six bedrooms and four and one-half bathrooms. The kitchen was previously remodeled, but little else of the interior has been altered.

Both the front and rear entrances are fully separated from the staircase to the second floor in a fashion that is more typical of English manor houses.

Like all of the other tour homes, this house retains a significant amount of original detailing, including tile floors, leaded glass, an imposing stone fireplace and extensive woodwork throughout.

Although the home’s three-car garage would appear to be rather extravagant for the mid-1920s, knowing the original owner was a car dealer makes that extravagance logical.

Research on this home was provided by the Wauwatosa Historical Society for its “Tudors of the Washington Highlands,” home tour conducted on October 4, 2014

Year of Construction: 4/14/1926
Architect: Uecker R. A. Inc.
Contractor: Uecker R. A. Inc.
Building Material: Stone & Stucco
Original Owner: Ernie A. Swendson
Original Value: $40,000


 

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