Pabst Mansion Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Significant dates

Frederick Pabst House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


Location in Wisconsin Show map of Wisconsin Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	2000 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Area	1.5 acres
Built	1892
Architect	George Ferry
Architectural style	Flemish Renaissance Revival
NRHP reference No.	75000073
Added to NRHP	April 21, 1975

The Pabst Mansion is a beautiful old house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was built in 1892 for Captain Frederick Pabst (1836–1904), who started the famous Pabst Brewing Company. This amazing house looks like buildings from the Flemish Renaissance Revival style, which was popular in Europe. In 1975, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, making it a very important historical building. Today, it is a museum that offers tours to the public.

History of the Pabst Mansion
Gallery
See also

History of the Pabst Mansion

Frederick Pabst came to Milwaukee from Germany when he was just 12 years old in 1848. He started working on steamships on Lake Michigan as a cabin boy. He worked hard and became a captain by 1857! In 1862, he married Maria Best. Her father owned Best and Company, a big brewery in Milwaukee.

Building the Mansion

Frederick joined the family business in 1864 and soon became its leader. By 1874, his brewery was the biggest in the U.S. In 1889, it was renamed the Pabst Brewing Company. Around 1890, Captain Pabst asked Milwaukee architect George Bowman Ferry to design his new home. He wanted it in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style.

Construction of the mansion began on June 27, 1890, and took two years to finish. Ferry designed a three-story house with a strong, pressed brick outside. It had special corner stones called quoins and fancy decorations made of carved stone and terra cotta. The Flemish Renaissance Revival style is known for its balanced look and decorative rooflines called parapets. Inside, there was a men's room decorated with dark wood and a ladies' room with white decorations.

Life in the Mansion

The Pabst family lived in the mansion from 1892 until 1908. After they moved out, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bought the house. The archdiocese moved a special glass room, called a conservatory, to the east side of the house. They used it as the archbishop's chapel. For the next 67 years, five Archbishops and many priests and sisters lived in the Pabst mansion.

Saving the Mansion

In 1975, the Archdiocese decided to sell the mansion. They hoped a group that saves old buildings would buy it and make it beautiful again. Before this, there were plans to tear down the mansion to build a parking lot! In 1978, a group called Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., bought the mansion. They opened it to the public in May of that year.

In 1998, Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., changed its name to Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion, Inc. The mansion is now open every day for tours. It was even used as a filming location! It appeared in some holiday commercials for Boston Store in the 1980s. The mansion was also briefly shown in the TV show How I Met Your Mother in 2008. It was shown as the childhood home of the character Robin Scherbatsky.

Historic preservation

Restoring the Pabst Mansion has been a big project. The first room to be restored was the main Dining Room. The archdiocese had painted the ceiling, walls, and even some paintings white. To find the original colors, restorers carefully took down three large mirrors. The archdiocese had painted around the mirrors, but not underneath them. This helped the restorers find the perfect original colors to repaint the room.

More recently, efforts have focused on the Master Suite. In 2011, experts studied the paint on the ceilings of the Master Bedroom and Sitting Room. They found hidden palm fronds painted directly onto the ceiling in the Sitting Room's corners. Old pictures from around 1900 helped them find where these designs were. The latest restoration work in Emma's Room, also called the Regency Room, is now complete.