Appleton Real Estate

On one of the many scenic walking tours one may take in Appleton, the meeting of cultures and time periods is very evident. Appleton Real estate in the area stretches back to the 1800s when pioneers first came to Appleton along the Fox River and started paper mills and factories that thrive even today.

For instance, the Appleton City Park Historic District features Queen Anne Victorian housing dating as far back as 1875. When you think of mansions, chances are you’re imagining a Queen Anne with its giant spires stretching toward the sky, wrap around porches, towers, chimneys and castle-like stone foundations. Walking the block extending from E Washington to N Durkee, E Atlantic to Lawe, you’ll notice that many of these behemoth structures are constructed using stone and wood combinations.

Appleton National and State landmarks include: Appleton Wire Works, Hearthstone at 625 West Prospect Ave., Main Hall at Lawrence University and the Voelksfreund Building on East College Ave.

Stroll tree-lined sidewalks down Prospect, Walnut or State Street in the historic Third Ward District. Large Germanic style housing gives visitors a hint as to the ancestry of its settlers. In particular, the national landmark Hearthstone mansion was built in 1881 for a prominent businessman and, the following year, became the first home in the world to be lit by a centrally located hydroelectric station designed by Edison! Located in the Historic Third Ward district and on a scenic Fox River Bluff, visitors are astounded by Henry Roger’s ingenuity in building this Victorian gem.

As of 2007, College Avenue has been the most recent Historical District to be added to Appleton’s growing list. The College District contains the widest variety of styles from 1875 to 1924. See where judges and professors resided or perhaps move in yourself!

Take a walk back through time – from the early years where quaint Folk Victorian molding was mass produced like railroads and sent out as a no-frills solution to the booming housing demand… to the colossal colonial styles: Neo-classical and Greek Revival, with their wide white pillars, top and bottom floor porches and door-length windows.

If you look carefully, you’ll spot Frank Lloyd Wright’s simple Prairie style brick housing and more noticeably, the red Spanish tile roofs and rounded forms of Adobe-inspired Mission Homes founded by Californian missionaries in the early 1900s.

Also in the early 1900s, more Californian designers began spreading their influence in Appleton, Wisconsin as decorative ornamentation went out of fashion and bungalows with clutter-free simplicity were in.
Colonial Revival housing still propagated much of Appleton real estate  from the late 1800s well into the 1950s, with brick or wood exteriors, elaborate hallways, living rooms with fireplaces, rows of single file windows and ornate white-trimmed doorways.

Likewise, the medieval “storybook cottage style” -- Tudor Revival housing -- was being built throughout this time as well. A plethora of Colonial Revival housing can be found from 315 – 330 West Prospect Avenue.

In the 1930s, the German Bauhaus movement spread to the Chicago world fair and soon to Appleton, Wisconsin too. Machine-like in its simple straight-lined style and based on curves, triangles, cubes and flat roof designs, the Arte Modern style makes impressive looking post-modern housing that would excite any abstract artist.

The 1970s also brought ranch style housing to the market, which some people refer to as “style-less” with its squat, one-floor design; however, ranches are great abodes for elderly who don’t want to climb a lot of stairs and also make inexpensive first time buys for young couples.

While 69% of the livable housing units were owner-occupied in 2000, don’t despair. Chances are, you will find your dream home, whether it’s a Tudor Revival or a Ranch.