Look up at the Wisconsin Tower, also called the 606 Building, at 606 West Wisconsin Avenue. This 22-story, 280-foot-tall (85 m) Art Deco high-rise was built from 1929 to 1930 and completed in 1930, making it the second-tallest building in Milwaukee at the time. It would later be surpassed by the Chase Tower in 1961.
Designed by the Chicago firm Weary & Alford Company, the tower is a prime example of Art Deco architecture, with a Bedford stone exterior and inset upper floors that echo other Midwest office buildings and banks of the era. Originally an office tower, it was purchased and redeveloped into 74 condominiums in 2005, with the renovation finished the following year. Pause at the dramatic brown marble front entrance: notice the grillwork of birds and flowers framing the doorway and imagine stepping into the almost entirely original lobby.
The lobby walls are Levanto Italian marble, and the elevator doors, elevator signals, and directory remain beautiful examples of Art Deco design. Notice the brown marble entrance, the grillwork of birds and flowers, and the inset floors climbing above it.