This house was built in 1889-1890 by Norman L. Kneeland, a New York native, who moved to Milwaukee with his wife Carrie Baker after a brief service in the Civil War. When city development expanded faster than this farmer liked, he sold his property, which is today part of Washington Park, and opted for the Village of Wauwatosa as an ideal place to retire. During his retirement, Kneeland turned to civic involvement serving as an alderman and as president of the Common Council. In 1911, the home passed to the hands of Norman’s son David, one of Wisconsin’s famous lumber barons.

The house was sold six years later by David Kneeland’s widow Cornelia to Emery Walker, an inventor and engineer. During the Walker years, the 1.5 acre grounds remained a high priority with an apple orchard, formal English garden and horses. Maintaining the home, as well as undertaking remodeling projects such as the installation of an elevator in 1945 for Emery’s seventy year old wife Mabelle, were ongoing endeavors.

The Wauwatosa Historical Society purchased the elegant Kneeland-Walker House in 1987 because of its historical and architectural significance and has lovingly maintained the building through the years. The house is the finest example of the Queen Anne style architecture, arguable the best in Wauwatosa. The three-story home features a porte cochere on the west, a tower on the southeast corner, and a hipped roof with gable dormers. The exterior is finished with red brick, clapboard, and coursed wooden shingles. The exterior features the original jewel-tone colors, determined through careful research and paint testing. This house has retained much of its original integrity such as the irregularity of massing, and the variety of wall textures, roof structures and wall projections, and its maintenance has remained true to its original condition.

The house, the largest residential property in Wauwatosa was admitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.