Kirchhoff and Rose Architecture Book
Kirchhoff and Rose was an architectural partnership beginning in 1894. Charles Kirchhoff, Jr. and Thomas Leslie Rose enjoyed a highly successful practice, designing many of Milwaukee’s most iconic buildings.
Charles Kirchhoff, Jr. was born in Milwaukee 1856. He went to public and private schools, eventually studying architecture in Boston and New York. When he returned to Milwaukee he began his architectural career in a company with Henry Messmer. He helped to build several churches with Messmer. After the dissolution of this partnership he worked on his own until working with Thomas Rose beginning in 1894.
Thomas L. Rose was born in New York in 1867. He received his early education in Chicago and apprenticed to J.J. Egan, a well-known Chicago architect. He began practice in Milwaukee in 1883 where he was associated with Henry Starbuck until 1894 when he formed a partnership with Kirchhoff. After Charles Kirchhoff’s death in 1915, Thomas Rose continued the firm under the same name with Kirchhoff’s son Rodger until Rose died in 1935.
Kirchhoff and Rose built many prominent buildings in Milwaukee, including the Majestic Office Building and Theatre, Palm Garden Schlitz Hotel, J.E. Uihlein’s Home on Lake Shore Drive, and Pawling & Harnischfeger’s Plant. They designed many businesses as well as many theaters in the city. One of their most impressive designs was completed in 1913. The Second Ward Savings Bank, today the Milwaukee County Historical Center, is a beautiful example of French Renaissance Architecture.
The architecture book, dated 1910, displays some of the buildings Kirchhoff and Rose designed in Milwaukee. Each example of their work includes one or two photographs which display the uniqueness of the designs. This rare book provides a visual memory of many of this company’s works both large and small built in Milwaukee.
Location: Album 84
