The Pabst Mansion

It's a habit of mine that when I drive by the mansions that line Lake Drive in Milwaukee, I slow down and gape out my car window, wondering what they must be like on the inside.

I'd always resigned myself to the fact that, unless I somehow become a member of Milwaukee's high society, I will spend my life simply wondering about them.

Never mind that all along I had access to the most iconic and splendid mansion of them all in Milwaukee and that I could see the inside of it whenever I wanted.

Of course I'd heard of the Pabst Mansion and always knew I'd visit it one day, but I didn't know when tours were available, and I couldn't have even told you where exactly it was located in Milwaukee.

When we followed Wisconsin Avenue to the Pabst Mansion yesterday, there it was, nestled between commercial buildings near Marquette University in an area I've driven through dozens of times. I'd seen it, but I'd never put two and two together, and I'd certainly never slowed my car down to gape, as it's on a much busier street than Lake Drive.

I visited the Pabst Mansion website yesterday morning and discovered that the mansion is open seven days a week for tours, and we didn't even need an appointment. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and a small sign on the outside of the house directed us around the side of the building to buy our admission tickets in the Victorian gift shop.

Two friendly elderly women greeted us and we paid them our $8.00 each. We were told that tours were given on the hour, but that if we didn’t want to wait a half hour, we could take a self-guided tour. Another family of four had entered at the same time, so the six of us all decided we'd just go it alone. We were handed a tri-fold tour guide that gave us some history of the house and then offered a brief explanation of each of the rooms.

We were escorted through the gift shop and through a small door that opened into the dining room and we were greeted by another woman who was going to give us a short introduction before we went off on our own. Turns out, though, she just kept talking and talking and leading us from room to room on the main level, so we did end up getting at least half of a tour, and we learned so much more than we would have otherwise.

Cameras weren't allowed, and while I usually attempt to sneak photos when I can when such rules are in place, I wasn't about to do so here. Here are a few photos borrowed from the website:

The house was incredible, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. The sheer size of it overwhelmed me. From where we stood in the reception hall, we could see up two more levels as the grand staircase wound up and then up again. All of the rooms featured hand-carved woodwork and so were very dark, yet there were plenty of windows that allowed light inside.

A brief history: Captain Frederick Pabst moved to the U.S. from Germany in 1848 and settled with his parents in Chicago at the age of 12. His mother died, and at the age of 14, he became a cabin boy on a Great Lakes steamer. By the age of 21, he'd earned the title of Captain.

He married Maria Best in 1862, and she was the daughter of Phillip Best, president of Best Brewing Company. Frederick purchased a half-interest in the small brewery and over the next 25 years turned it into the world's largest producer of Lager beer. In 1889, the brewery was renamed the Pabst Brewery.

Frederick and Maria had 11 children, but only five grew to adulthood.

Captain Frederick Pabst was considered to be Milwaukee's foremost citizen in the 1890's. The Pabst Mansion was constructed between 1890 and 1892 and cost just over $250,000 to build – and that included all of the furnishings. At the time, Wisconsin Avenue was called Grand Avenue and was lined with mansions. Our tour guide told us that Frederick and Maria lived near the Pabst Brewery and also traveled a great deal, so they only resided in the mansion for about five months out of the year.

The Captain died in 1904 and Maria died in 1906. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee purchased the home in 1908 and for 67 years, five archbishops as well as numerous priests and nuns lived in the house. In 1975 the house was sold again, and the intention was to demolish it to build a parking structure. Thankfully, a local entrepreneur bought it until Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. attained the funding it needed. It received a large state grant and in 1978, the Pabst Mansion was finally open to the public. Room by room, the mansion is slowly being restored and conserved. 

The house is five levels from basement to attic and contains 37 rooms in all, but we could only tour the main level and the second level. The website says that a special 2-hour behind the scenes tour is available that takes you from "the darkest corners of the vast basement to the loftiest points in the attic and all stops in between." This tour must be reserved two weeks in advance and a $25 deposit is required. Upon leaving, Dave and I both agreed we'd love to come back and go on that tour, for having only seen two levels of the five, our curiosity about the rest of the house was definitely piqued.

I feel I could write a novel here describing each room we saw. My advice, if you live in Milwaukee or anywhere near, is that a tour of the Pabst Mansion is an absolute must, since no words or photos can do justice to what an experience it is to be inside that grand house.

The woodworking is different in every room, is all hand-carved, and is made of the finest woods: oak, birch, walnut, maple. There's nothing plain in sight: the walls feature paintings and intricate moldings and the ceilings are carved; many of the windows are made of stained glass, and there are built-in cabinets and numerous fireplaces. Everything is just so elegant and elaborate; we were in awe of it all.

The reception hall featured a musicians' nook, so that guests were greeted with music upon entering. There was also a music room on one end of the reception hall, and a ladies parlor on the other end, which was pink, pink, PINK, and featured liquid gold on the ceilings.

The Captain's study, or the smoking room, was our tour guide's favorite room. The most interesting part of that room were the 14 hidden hand-carved oak compartments that lined the room and had no handles on them – one had to know the secret to opening them – as well as a large cigar humidor.

The kitchen where the servants prepared all of the meals was right off the dining room, and the servants' dining room was next to that. The butler's pantry was off the kitchen, and a giant safe was behind a door in that kitchen. All valuables were stored here and only the butler and Captain Pabst had a key.

Upstairs we walked through the master bedroom and several other bedrooms. While most houses just have a hallway upstairs leading from room to room, the second-floor foyer was the central part of the level and was bigger than most living rooms, even boasting its own fireplace. The stairs up to the third level were roped off, but we saw an employee walk up there with a silver tray, and since we were told a wedding was taking place there that evening, we assumed this is where private events are held.

I feel as thought I'm forgetting about a hundred interesting things we learned and saw yesterday. When we take the grand tour one day, I'll have to bring along a notebook!

The Pabst Mansion was completely fascinating and I feel that I got such a wonderful taste of Milwaukee history by finally paying it a visit.

And while I may never get to see inside any of those Lake Drive mansions, I now have a better picture in my head as to how they're laid out. And my only conclusion is wow.

While I can't ever imagine living so large, it's fun to learn about those who do.

Or in this case, did.

Comments

[David Ernst]

Erin,

I can't remember which of those Lake Drive mansions is open for tours but there is at least one that I went through as a young man. It was down around the Pfister hotel.

[Erin]

I just realized that this post was my 300th post. Felt I should call attention to it since I pointed out my 100th and 200th, too!