The Pabst Mansion: A Victorian's Vision

As I told all of you yesterday, my female siblings and I took an extended weekend trip to Chicago to shop the Magnificent Mile and each of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and have the aching feet and receipts to prove it! :-)
I got to see a little of Transformers 3 (yes I actually like these movies) being filmed on the Magnificent Mile but nothing compares to the highlight of my trip: a surprise day trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to tour the Pabst Mansion, home of German-American brewer Frederick Pabst.

From 1892 to 1908 the Flemish Renaissance Revival Mansion is where
Johann Gottlieb Friederich Pabst spent time with family and friends and rested from a hard day's work running Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery.
When Pabst first emigrated to the U.S. with his parents, he took a job as a waiter and busboy in order to make ends meet. He soon realized it was not for him and became a cabin boy aboard a steamship and by the time he was 21, he had his license and was captain of his own vessel, the Comet.
On one of his voyages he met the owner of Best Brewing Company, Phillip Best and later married his daughter Maria on March 25th, 1862.
Following an accident and a change in career in 1863, Pabst purchased one half of the prosperous Best Brewing Company and while learning the details of the business from his father-in-law, he mastered the art of brewing.
He soon churned out 100,000 barrels per year and became president in 1873, later changing the name of the company to the Pabst Brewing Company. Pabst became Pabst Blue Ribbon when the company was awarded the blue ribbon for best select beer at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair.
In 1889 Pabst commissioned Milwaukee architect George Bowman Ferry to design a large mansion on a vast property Pabst acquired some years earlier.
On June 27th, 1890 a building permit was issued for the construction of the home at 2000 Grand Avenue and for the next two years the Pabst mansion was constructed. No cost was spared or innovation overlooked, the home was wired for electricity, plumbed for 9 full bathrooms, was installed with a state of the art heating system (it has 16 thermostats) and has custom built furniture and priceless art throughout the majority of its rooms.
It was at its time the finest residence in the city with a huge glass conservatory located behind the mansion as well as a smaller one located in house with removable tiles for cleaning and watering the tropical plants and trees.
The mansion has 9 bedrooms, 9+ bathrooms, 14 fireplaces and a total of 37 rooms. It also had a rather large stable, a servant's duplex and a utility building whose sole purpose was to provide power to the entire property.


More interesting facts about the Pabst Mansion: (you know you want to know!)
*The window shades in the home were custom made at a cost of $6,000 per window.
*Frederick and Maria Pabst had 11 children, with only five surviving to adulthood.
*Frederick's "man cave" has hidden doors that open at the push of one button in the floor, and this room's ambiance feels VERY creepy.
*Mr. Pabst has a large scale safe in the butler's pantry with a mural of a ship on the front-it is the same ship he met his then future wife Maria on and only two people have the combination to the safe.
*Pabst had a landing built when his grandson fell from the third floor and broke both his arms.
*The Ladies Parlor is in strawberry pink and off white and around noon each day when the sun shines through the windows it resembles a giant pink gumball. I would purchase Scalamandre fabric and completely gut this room!
*The mansion is said to be haunted and is listed on Milwaukee Ghosts and Home of Milwaukee Haunted History Tours.
I have to say, four people complained of something equivalent to little hairs constantly rubbing against their bare arms, I on the other hand felt nothing but my blood pressure rise when I heard the cost of the cabinets in the dining room, $60,000 per cabinet!
*When Pabst died he left a reported $1,000,000 to each of his servants-I am quite sure they earned every penny and then some.
Mr Pabst passed away on January 1st, 1904 at his home around noon of a pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure. His wife Maria died on October 3rd, 1906.
After the couple's deaths, the heirs put the mansion up for sale and in 1908 the Archdiocese of Milwaukee purchased it as a residence for the archbishop.
Many of the more larger grander homes were being torn down and the Pabst Mansion was next but thank God the Archdiocese stepped in and saved it from certain ruin at that time.
That is one of the beauties of Europe to me, they preserve their architectural jewels for the next generation to appreciate and for history's sake, unlike some in the U.S. who are constantly tearing down our historical buildings and homes in search of the next McMansion site-how perfectly vulgar.
In the mid-1970s the Archdiocese put the home on the market hoping a preservation group or society would acquire it, others wanted it made into a parking lot (how ingenious) but the funds never materialized.
A local entrepreneur served as the interim owner while a preservation group pursued funding. With 23 mortgages and a large state grant they acquired the mansion in 1978 and opened it to the public.
Thank you Wisconsin Heritages Inc., the preservation group with the foresight to save this treasure.
I for one am most thankful you did!


Pabst Mansion Tour,
PabstMansion.com