The Age of Elegance

Distance: Two miles
Start: At the corner of E. Park Pl. and N. Shepard Ave.
Parking: On the street

Many of the elegant residential styles favored by Milwaukee’s upper middle-class residents in the late 1800s and early 1900s are displayed on this walk. Most of the homes were built between 1894 and 1909 as this neighborhood, adjacent to Lake Park, developed rapidly, thanks in part to its proximity to the park. As John Gurda noted in Milwaukee City of Neighborhoods, “Lake Park was like a green light to developers who were betting that the affluence of North Point would spill over into the open land north of Newberry Boulevard.”

And so it did, some of it on land purchased by Clarence Shepard in 1892, one year after Lake Park was established. This section was named Kenwood Park, 72 acres between Hartford Avenue and Kenwood Boulevard. In 1893, the land south of Kenwood was platted, an area bounded by Lake Drive, Park Place, Downer Avenue, and Kenwood Boulevard. This property, part of a 265-acre farm, was purchased by E.P. Hackett and S. H. Hoff for $425,000. They called it Prospect Hill and soon organized the Prospect Hill Land Company. They wasted no time laying water, sewer, gas mains, and for ease of movement in the neighborhood, asphalt streets. They spent $50,000 on the project including curbs for the streets, something new to this era.

The Prospect Hill neighborhood began to grow when land in the North Point neighborhood south of Prospect Hill started to fill up. When they couldn’t build in North Point, the wealthy took their money and headed north to construct their elegant homes east of Downer Avenue and south of Kenwood. They hired prominent architects to design their homes which may explain why there are many architectural jewels in this small area. A few of them are noted in the text for this two-mile stroll through Prospect Hill.

For this walk, park at the corner of Park Place and Shepard Avenue. At this corner, notice the homes at 2704 and 2705 Shepard, the George Packard Residence at 2704 and the James Sawyer Residence at 2705, two of the earliest homes in the neighborhood. They are both three-story frame homes and easy on the eye, especially some of the details. You can’t miss the four Ionic columns at 2705 and the double Palladian-style windows at 2704, details that tell you these homes were designed and constructed for wealthy homeowners.

Head east to Lake Drive on Park Place, turn left on Lake Drive and walk north toward Kenwood. At 2743 Lake Drive, the Edward G. Cowderry Residence, designed by Alexander Eschweiler, is an ornate residence built for the general manager of the Milwaukee Gas Light Company.

At Kenwood turn left, and left again on Marietta Avenue. Look for the home at 2931 with its Ionic columns similar to the home you viewed at 2705 Shepard. This is the Otto Zielsdorf Residence built in 1899.

Now turn right on Locust Street, and right again on Summit Avenue. Pause at 3043 Summit at the William W. Akin Residence, an imposing two-and-a-half story brick house designed with perfect symmetry, and note the four Ionic columns, announcing the front entrance.

At Kenwood, turn right, and then right again on Shepard which will lead you back to Park Place and the beginning of this walk. You have seen a collection of iconic, architect-designed homes, a parade of homes that showcase the wealth of early upper middle-class Milwaukee businessmen, merchants and entrepreneurs.

Photos