Inside a Greendale Original Home—Then and Now

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In the October Shepherd Express magazine, we explored a historic Greendale Original home owned by the Greendale Historical Society. Their Apple Court Project house, a 1,000-square foot Greendale Original home at 5597 Apple Court., had been restored to its near original state. The English-inspired house features exposed wood ceiling beams, a clay tile roof and historically accurate Art Moderne pieces in the living room.

The single- and multi-family Greendale Original structures are the result of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Resettlement Administration’s Greenbelt projects. Greendale is one of only three Greenbelt projects; the other two are in Greenbelt, Md. and Greenhills, Ohio. All three were built between 1936 and 1938. These villages today are National Historic Landmarks. 

All 366 Greendale Original structures still stand, but many have been creatively renovated by various owners over the years.

Joe and Marlene Bruno live in a Greendale Original home, remodeled with help from Bob and Bud Fiedler of Original Village Carpenters, that combines the amenities of modern life with historical accents. Their home retains the cherished exposed wood ceiling beams, along with a flat wooden handrail on the staircase leading to the second floor—both signature to the true ‘30s design. But changes to the exterior and interior have added style and livability.

The Brunos purchased their current Greendale Original home in 2019. Like many of the homes, the original cincrete (a type of cinderblock) façade has been sided over. The house has an addition built by a previous owner. Their yard is larger due to the house being tucked onto a corner lot.

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The Brunos had downsized from a larger home in Hales Corners. Joe, originally from New York, and Marlene, who hails from Pennsylvania, had lived in Greendale, on Angle Lane, during the ‘70s before moving to other areas as life unfolded. Marlene had always been intrigued by how Greendale reminded her of Keystone State towns. “The villages back East are based on English, European style homes,” she remarks.

Building a Basement

The Greendale Original homes were built without basements because the government started running out of money for the project by the time construction began in Wisconsin. Yet Marlene’s and Joe’s Greendale Original home has a basement. Through a surprise visit from a previous resident, they had learned how the former owners installed their own basement during the ‘50s—with no excavation equipment.

“The first year that we lived here, a gentleman, Peter Jackson, drove up our driveway. He lived here with his family while he was in high school,” Marlene recalls. “He told us that he and his dad dug out the basement. Through a hatch, his mom would go down there during the day and loosen the dirt. When the kids came home after school, they filled buckets and used a pulley system to hoist them up.”

On the main level, the Brunos remodeled a utility room by knocking out a wall and raising the ceiling by six inches. The bright, spacious room now easily accommodates modern appliances. The remodeled kitchen offers plenty of cabinet storage and counter space. A slide-in induction range fits neatly between two countertops. They added recessed lighting, and an open counter offers a view of the dining room.

The Brunos had an outdoor slab of concrete enclosed to create a three-season seating area. An addition to the home, also built by the Jacksons, nearly glows with natural light. Joe believes previous owners may have used the addition as a dining room. Today, it serves as the Bruno’s family room. They also added a bathroom on the main level, so there is one bathroom on each level.

Upstairs, the two-bedroom home has a remarkable amount of storage. Original latches still adorn cabinet doors in the upstairs hallway. The upstairs bathroom retains a ‘30s-era tub with clean lines; an about-face from the embellished Victorian-era claw foot tubs.

A conversation piece is the Bruno’s framed photograph of their previous Greendale Original home on Angle Lane. It was taken by a photographer who took photos throughout Greendale and sold them. The Brunos happened to find the photo at a coffee shop on Broad Street. It’s proudly displayed on a wall of their current home, bringing their Greendale Original experience full circle.