I went on a tour for the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation this morning. I had picked up a brochure earlier this year at the library. I always thought it would be a good way to learn about my new town but I never got around to it. My aunt is somewhat active with historic architecture in the Milwaukee area so when she decided to visit me today I thought it was a good idea.

This tour was of the Westmorland neighborhood. It was a suburb back in the day but is now firmly in Madison. It has houses ranging from about 1916 to the 1960s if I recall correctly. Some of the notable houses were a Frank Lloyd Wright, a few Sears & Roebuck mail order catalog houses, and a Lustron house. The last one was new to me. It is a house made out of enameled steel. The outside has porcelain and never needs painting.

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Picture from Wikipedia

Apparently if you want to hang something on the walls you need a magnet. But the roofs have lasted 50 years+ without a leak.

The neighboring house from my childhood home is a Sears house and it still has the original copper(?) roof. It is a big brick house while the Sears houses on this tour are smaller. I also learned that there were over 400 models of Sears houses to choose from. Very interesting.

These tours change from week to week. Most are downtown and last about an hour. I learned a lot, walked a bit, and now know more about the city. You should check it out. They have a web presence: Madison Trust for Historic Preservation