The Sawyer House presents a striking array of Beaux-Arts classical features including its spectacular front portico with colossal Ionic columns topped by a tall frieze decorated with wooden festoons framing small ocular
windows. Classical motifs abound in the portico’s pediment, fanlight, pilasters, and window moldings. The house’s low third story set within the frieze area is clad in stucco. The house illustrates the early influence of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Yet, the Sawyer House, built for a member of Milwaukee’s Board of Trade, resembles a large box with classical details and a portico tacked on.