Thomas Cook House (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Thomas Cook House
After painting in 2011
Location 853 N. Seventeenth St.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Coordinates 43°2′29″N 87°56′3″W / 43.04139°N 87.93417°W / 43.04139; -87.93417Coordinates: 43°2′29″N 87°56′3″W / 43.04139°N 87.93417°W / 43.04139; -87.93417
Built 1875
Architect E. Townsend Mix
Architectural style Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference # 86000104
Added to NRHP January 16, 1986

The Thomas Cook House is a historic house located at 853 North Seventeenth Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 16, 1986.[1]

History

The 2-1/2 story Victorian style house was designed by architect E. Townsend Mix, and originally belonged to Thomas Cook, a pioneer who owned and operated limestone quarries. It now serves as Yacht House for Marquette University.[2]

Description

The Thomas Cook House is a Victorian Gothic style residence. It is two stories with an attic level and sits on a high foundation of rock-faced, coursed ashlar limestone. Originally built as a double-house and now subdivided into six apartments, the plan centeres on a rectangular block with a broadly sloping chalet style roof and center gabled pavilion on the main facade. The Cook House is of frame construction encased with Milwaukee cream brick laid in common bond and trimmed with limestone in the banding, sills and lintels. The architectural character of this structure is derived from its picturesque but rustic decoration and detailing...

The Thomas Cook House is locally significant as a unique example of Victorian Gothic style residential architecture designed by master architect Edward Townsend Mix. Emblematic of the picturesque period in American house design as popularized in Andrew Jackson Downing's books of "Gothic" cottages, "Italian" villas and "Swiss" chalets, the Cook House with its combination of Gothic details and chalet style roof is a rarity in Milwaukee. In the context of similar residences from this period, the Cook House has remained as one of the best examples of the style and is known as the only one of its kind in the city.

Thomas Cook was a pioneer stone merchant who owned and operated extensive limestone quarries in Waukesha County. He began his business in 1853 and joined with Edwin Hyde in 1860 to form Cook and Hyde Stone Co. The firm was quite prolific supplying building stone to many of the city's major residential and commercial buildings of the nineteenth century.

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas Cook House". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  2. ↑ "Thomas Cook House - Milwaukee, WI". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
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