Charles Ehlers House

Charles Ehlers House

Charles Ehlers House Photograph by Paul J. Jakubovich, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society
c. 1886, Charles Ehlers. 2576 N. 4th St.

Whimsical brickwork and picturesque massing make this Queen Anne house a neighborhood landmark on Milwaukee’s north side. But the decorative highlight is the tower’s delightful heart-shaped brickwork, the signature of masonry contractor Ehlers, whose skill and individualism as a mason are evident throughout. His decorative brick hood moldings, dogtooth stringcourses, and attractive brickwork panels under the first-floor windows use brick as other Queen Anne houses use shingles, wood, terra-cotta, and other materials for ornamentation and textural variety. A compact front porch and equally elaborate two-level porch at the rear of the house exhibit some of Milwaukee’s handsomest Queen Anne millwork.

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