Though the original owners have not been confirmed, it’s believed this classic Prairie Foursquare was built circa 1910 for one of the children of the Ziegler family. If you grew up in Milwaukee in the 1950s or 1960s, you may remember the nickel priced Ziegler Giant Bar, a classic chocolate-peanut bar made by the local George Ziegler Company, which became a Halloween tradition for school children. While the candy bar first appeared in 1911, it wasn’t until after World War II that every school child in Milwaukee received one. That’s when the company began donating enough Ziegler Giant Bars to metropolitan Milwaukee schools each Halloween so every child could have two. The George Ziegler Company closed in 1972, but if you have a hankering to relive a childhood taste, the Ziegler Giant Bars are still poured in patented molds and sold by Ziegler’s HALF NUTS in West Allis, owned by the fifth generation of Ziegler candy makers, Bill and Mary Ziegler.
The date the home was built has been estimated based on the fact that it appears on the 1910 fire insurance maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company. By the late 1970s this beautiful home had fallen on hard times and was converted to a 17-unit rooming house. In the last 1990s the home was purchased and extensive renovations were completed that respect the beauty and integrity of the home and its original floor plan. Notice the large carriage house, now being used as a three-car garage. The second floor of the carriage house was originally used as quarters for the original owner’s liveryman or chauffeur.