2006 Preservation Awards
William and Fryetta Burmeister House
1702 Vilas Avenue
[photo: Jason Tish]
1702 Vilas Avenue
Daniel and Tiffany Neely, owners
Tom Richards, carpentry
Jorge Hernandez-High Style Painting
Chas Vaughan-Window Design Center
Nick Gross, electrician
Award: residential restoration
The American Four Square style house at 1702 Vilas Avenue was built in 1910 as a wedding gift for William and Fryetta Burmeister. Even though it was added to the National Register in 1999, the house had been neglected and fallen into disrepair. Converted into student housing and poorly maintained, the house was badly in need of help when Daniel and Tiffany Neely purchased it in 2004. In search of an older house and recognizing the beautiful woodwork and hardwood floors below the layers of paint, the Neeleys bought the house and undertook a marathon restoration project which included converting the two-flat back into a single-family house.
Interior and exterior surfaces were restored or replaced to reflect the period in which the house was built. As often happens, the Neeleys ran into a few surprises during the renovation, including large rocks found in the ceiling of one room when the damaged plaster was removed.
Luckily, the original wood siding on the house was salvageable, so it was repaired, scraped, and repainted. Windows that needed to be replaced were custom-made to fit existing openings and recreate the look of the originals. Inappropriate glass panels on the front porch were removed and lighting was added to illuminate the front columns at night. The reclaimed house is once again a handsome asset to the neighborhood.
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Other 2006 Award Winners
William and Fryetta Burmeister Residence
American Tobacco Company Warehouses
Ellsworth Block
23 N. Pinckney Street
Adolf and Edna Kannenberg Residence
Maurice and Elanor Johnson Residence
