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was wired for electricity when the house was built. but also used gas fixtures as well. at the top we have -- electric lights. the inner ring of lights are le electric. you can see the key for adjusting the flame. but as added protection, they had a font for kerosene put under the green dome. no matter what light was going to be had at the dining room table. one of the -- interesting bits that i have run across in milwaukee papers from the 190s talks about the pabsts having a party at the mansion in 1897. they needed extra electricity to run several strings of japanese lanterns around the exterior of the house. so there was a streetcar line that ran behind the mansion and they spliced into the wiring and then ran wires up to the mansion to light their lanterns. i always think of this unregulated electricity that was running around. you know, and the person that they would get to actually do that. this little font was actually a wine cooler. and here we have -- bacchus pouring wine to his cohorts. and so this container could be filled with ice and -- and, and then filled with several bottles of german wine. one of the things that i always look to point out is that, captain pabst was much more of a wine drinker than a beer drinker. when his estate was probated in 1904, the inventory showed there were 3,800 bottles of german wine stored in the cellars downstairs. this is one of my favorite paintings in our collection, and the, the pabst family had purchased this work in europe in 1894. and -- it had, originally -- hung on this space in the dining room. and it had passed through generations of -- of the pabst family until the -- then current owner, decided to donate it back to the mansion. and so, this has been a very happy coincidence that we have been able to repeat many times throughout the mansion of items that left the house in 1907, when the house was being closed up, and then have returned to our us in the modern periods returning back to their original walls. i think it has such a great feeling of authenticity, lend it to, to the mansion. the over door paintings would have been painted by a group of artists here in milwaukee, a very active art scene in milwaukee in the 1880s. really kind of incredible when you think about it. there was a group of what were called the panaraorama painters. and the battle of atlanta one of the more famous ones that is recently restored. the group of artists led by the pabsts' son-in-law acting as the interior decorator for the house or designer. was employed to paint these over door paintings. and they're quite extraordinary. they're quite good. by the 1960s they would have appeared dark and overvarnished. so they were painted white during the redecoration. now because of the amount of varnish that were on them -- originally -- and also, the level of soot that had built up on the surface they actually provided a -- a barrier. so when the paintings were conserved in the mid 1980s. the conservator was able to lift the white paint off the surface. so these are the original 1892 paintings that are visible today. that's quite extraordinary that they have survived. as we approach the second floor of the house, as you can imagine, these were the private quarters for the pabst family. and just into this room, this was the regency room, the bedroom of their youngest daughter, emma. and, actually, our most recent restoration effort. i'm very excited about this particular room because it really kind of brings together all of the -- opulence that would have been exhibited in the bedrooms of the pabst family when the house was completed. we are fortunate that the pabst mansion has a visitorship of 40,000 a year. so between -- our visitors and memberships and rentals, and foundation requests, that presents a budget off bout $375,000 a year of which supports all of our activities as far as the operation of the house and then, the other portion of my job other than being the historian, i am also director of development. so -- we are constantly going out to organizations in milwaukee but also across the country, to help support the pabst mansion as well. the exterior of the mansion has been restored by several restoration campaigns. that sought to bring back more of the original details lost over the decades. large spires on the top of the house were re-created, after the original ones had been destroyed by lightning early in the 20th century. when this house was one of the hi highest points in the neighborhood. recently we have returned awnings back to the front elevation of the house. something that hasn't been seen on the pabst mansion for over 100 summers. so we are very excited that this kind of brings back a level of authenticity, not only to the exterior of the house, but actually shades the interior, keeps us cool, and also, protects our, our objects within the mansion. when ferry and clas designed the exterior of the pabst mansion they were creating something that would become almost iconic. the use of the flemish, revival style with steep gables and spires was something that hadn't been seen in milwaukee. once captain pabst use the used applied to the milwaukee city hall in the mid 1890s and then into the latter par of the 20th century when our frontier airlines convention center was built used modified expre-- expression of the architectural style. while the pabst mansion is 20,000 square feet, the pabst family was using 8,000 square feet. the rest, 12,000 square feet was used by the servants. servants' area around the house. when i am asked by people over the years, why these houses didn't survive, i think that's one of the key reasons. they were never built to be used as single family homes without a huge staff. the pabst family had, about 12 to 15 servants indoor. and outdoor, day help, and live-in. so it was a very large and -- kind of sophisticated staff. the family had their butler and -- their maids and cook had actually stayed with them for a tremendous amount of time. almost the entire time they were in this house. so there was this interesting congeniality between the pabsts and their staff, and it is reflected by the ornateness of the servants' quarters of the house. i have been in quite a few house museums and stately homes and always been struck how, how kind of charming the pabst's mansions servants' quarters are. this is the servants' dining room. this room and i have had a very personal connection because in my mid 20s, i volunteered to strip all the white paint in this room. every wood surface in here had five layers of white paint. what i thought was going to be a three-week project, actually turned out to be a 14 month project. i am surprised i actually wasn't kicked off the property during that -- entire restoration. but the restoration project actually restored a sense of balance to the mansion. that they thought so much of their staff that they would actually create such a magnificent space for them to work in. and this particular room being their dining room, they would have -- spent a fair amount of time in. all of the delft tile is original and hand painted. and each scene while it seems to be the same tile repeated over and over again, the cloud or the ship or the castle are in different positions. so it really is truly an individually hand painted. when we were doing the restoration to this room, we realized, you know, there had been a stencil pattern up on the wall. so that was a re-created based upon the original photographs. but after it was on the wall, we realized it was also mimicking the three tuchltlips in the til work as well. we really started thinking about, so much time and effort had gone into the-- the decoration of this room. it was pretty extraordinary. captain pabst, loved little turns or phrases. so as a way to motivate his staff, and its work, for me, all these years as well, he had these stain glass windows created for the servants' quarters. unfortunately only three of the windows survive. and i would love to know what the other seven windows said. but -- the one on the left which i had to look at for 14 months working on the restoration of this room drove me a little crazy. it states a good attitude is half the work. seattle is tr it is true. the one on the right, originally placed near the rear entrance to the house. and that states that, as the servants were going out to deal with the daily vendors for meats and produce and that one states, buy with your eyes open. they are very practical. but they are -- worthwhile to remember as well. this is the butler's pantry and the butler's sink with its traditional tin basin. which all of the crystal and china and silver would have actually been done at this sing. and the metal sink would have actually absorbed a plate or a glass being dropped in it far more than our soap stone sink in the adjoining room. a lot of these items -- this wonderful -- limoge fish service had been donated to us. and quite a number of these items are actually family items, now, which were, excited to be filling our butler's pantry with original material from the family. behind this door -- was the house safe. so, all of the silverware and important papers of the household would have been kept behind this door. and this was one of 18 points around the house that actually had a battery powered burglar alarm hooked up to it originally. again that was just another one of those things the pabsts had incorporated into the house this burgeoning technology. for those things that were less valuable, and more edible, we had the tin lined pastry safe, right here. which breads and cakes and that sort of thing would have been kept -- relatively fresh, with the tin lining. we are very fortunate that this house, a victim of constant modernization over the 20th century. in that sense, it's probably fortunate that the pabst family had left the house in 1906. because we know that they kept updating things during their ownership. one of the things that has remained, which is extraordinary, is our three compartment icebox system. which the archdiocese very smartly had mechanical refrigeration added to it in the 1930s and 40s. so they didn't bother tearing out awf all of these things. they actually updated and incorporated them into the household. now this was a very happy find. i had, accidentally spilled paint remover on this particular panel. which had been painted, probably about 10 times. tremendous amount of paint on it. so slowly this green color started revealing itself. we started scraping away. we found this wonderful, absolutely pristine enamel porcelain panel that was originally to the sink. had not been -- visible in decades. and this is the original kitchen sink. with the huge soap stone basin that is all original. just one huge block of soapstone. the original working kitchen was eliminated in 1980. because it had been update sed many times, a modern elevator was put into this space that originally had the kichten eki it. it was a small room. much like a galley kitchen, 12 burner hotel stove and couple small pantries. so that space was eliminated. but -- it always made me laugh that there are actually three sets of doors from the kitchen into the house. and there were two reasons for that. the most obvious is that -- they did not want heat from the kitchen to -- to go into the -- more formal rooms of the house. but also cooking smells. victorians were absolutely obsessed with allowing, with not al allowing cooking smells to eminate into the room. and the pabst's daughter, built a home in germany, we had a letter to the architect, to build a large chimney to vent the cooking smells out of the kitchen and house. it's interesting now we thing uh it as -- being homey and what makes a home are the cooking smells. obviously during this period it was considered extremely vulgar. so -- now we will leave the servants' quarters of the house. before we do, we will just pass by captain pabst's elevator that was put in for him. he was a sufferer of emphysema. this was put in during his, during his last month of life. unfortunately it was completed just three weeks after he had passed away. but this is a single-passenger elevator, probably one of the oldest ones, still extended in a home in milwaukee. we pass back into the formal portion of the house. then we will go over to captain pabst's study. which was kind of his -- quiet retreat. and it is kind of an intimate nook. so, now we are -- ensconced in what is really, i have this very germanic room that is -- kind of recalling his -- earlier life in germany. although he grew up very modestly on a farm. so this probably in some respects represents, kind of an ideal in his mind of what someone of his position's home should look like. and so all of the woodwork in here is walnut and oak. designed in a 17th century german renaissance design. antiqued to give it the appearance that was -- 200 years old, 100 years ago but was indeed made here in milwaukee. what's particularly beautiful about this room -- and again, harkens to the craftsmen that were working in the dining room. certain artists including milwaukee artists, louis meier, actually created the magnificent ceiling. all done, using different colored stains, to give the effect of inlay. and then, incorporating captain pabst's favorite german phrases into the -- into the design as well. and so, in the small box, you have the one word learne over te fireplace, and "a feeling heart suffers pain." honor -- never have i found anything more priceless than a quiet, true heart. and wait. never lost, what a friend has told you in confidence. these were pearls of wisdom the captain enjoyed. the captain had an excellent sense of humor. for a 1899 party invitation he incorporated a couple other phrases. a good glass of wine and a good song will keep body and soul young for all time. at the end of the invitation it says, got a hangover, then drown it. so, while he could be very lofty in his -- ideals, aspirations, he also had a great sense of humor. this -- this compartment over here was actually captain pabst's cigar humidor, which is extraordinary, he was a big smoker of fine cigars. and according to his cashbook he's spent between $16 and $21 a month on cigar as loan which is almost what he was paying one of his staff members. behind some of these compartments we actually have a secret areas for books and documents. which is kind of fun that these -- spaces exist behind the panelling. the painting over the fireplace is -- actually -- very interesting. as the original painting that captain pabst selected to have over his fireplace in this room. it is entitled "plowing in saxony" by richard lorens, a milwaukee artist, had grown up in saxony, almost exactly where captain pabst had grown up. this painting represents the landscape of where captain pabst was born. this very flat land outside of leipsig. and so, in many ways this painting pulls this room together. because, it exhibits where captain pabst began and where he ended up. so you have this wonderful combination of details, of his german heritage, and also elements of the fortune that he made in america of which he was very proud to be a citizen as well. and so, all of these things put together kind of made up the complex character of captain pabst. over at the base of the grand staircase -- and in the -- in the southern united states -- you would have a pineapple as a symbol of hospitality at the foot of your grand staircase. here we have the hopsbud, we have hops-pitality. a horrible historian's joke. so we have the hopsbud, on all the posts going up the grand staircase. again this is a wonderful -- wonderful space that is open and bright and, and crowned by -- by stained glass skylight. and so this is all carved quarter-sawn oak. and this is such an extraordinary point to remind people. all this was put together in the course of two years. it is extraordinary to think of all of the craftsmen that worked on this house to accomplish all of that in such a short period of time. i always think looking at this magnificent stair hall that how could they have possibly built this house in just two years. in fact, captain pabst was frustrated it was taking so long. so it is hard to even think of the fact that it could have taken even less time to build this house than just two years. this little spot right here, is called the trumpet the trumpet while it's more or less an architecture device to break up the stair hall, this spot was used by the pabst family to keep a large chinese vase. in 1895 one of the grandsons was playing on the staircase right above us and decided to dive head forward into the chinese vase that was on the trumpet tower. he ended up exploding the vase and pieces of it shattered and flew everywhere. he broke both of his wrists, but, this little spot actually saved his life. as we approach the second floor of the house, as you can imagine these were the private quarters for the pabst family and just into this room this was the regency room, the bedroom of their youngest daughter, emma. and, actually our most recent restoration efforts called the regency room, naturally, because of the swag and tassel design of the fireplace mantle. that element is carried out in the silk wall coverings replicated for us in this room and also the original details in the cove and on the ceiling. this room had been painted completely white in the 1960s was completely refurbished and completed just a little more than a year ago by doing intricate color analysis of the ceiling using dental instruments our historic color analyst from chicago came up, revealed certain key elements of the ceiling and then mapped out the entire original pattern. we were able to transpose those colors down into the room because, of course, all of our photographs of this room in 1897 were all black and white. so using that we were able to apply colors to the silk wall coverings and also in our efforts to re-create the draperies and the bed coverlet as well. the rug was hand knotted for us and, again, brings out all of the decorative details and the color is harmonious and pulls together the entire suite of rooms. this is one of my favorite rooms in the house. there's just something about the design and the symmetry that i really enjoy, and now when you look it at the black and white photographs and compare the room it's almost complete ly spot on. and so you feel a particular joy when you realize that the restoration of the room was so completely successful that it really heartens you to know that the room will stay like this now and will hopefully never have to be completely restored again. among the modern conveniences that were included in the pabst mansion were all suite bathrooms and there were ten of them in the house which is really remarkable. i think about the first generation of contractors that had to deal with electric lighting and plumbing all of these bathrooms and force d air heating systems, it's pretty extraordinary. but in the regency room bathroom we still have the original bathroom tile and we have the one original remaining tub in the house. the only reason this tub survived is it was being used as a slap sink in the basement, and so we've had it reconditioned and restored and brought up and will be had we're done with the res korgs of the bathroom will be all put together again and in a better place than it had been. a number of years ago we had water damage occur in part of the house which was actually fortuitous because it's forced us to take off some of the woodwork in a back hall revealing a little section of step si stencil work in the server's quarters. we looked for tension in the bathrooms and were excited to find an original detail of stencilled work inside the bath rom. we decided to leave a section of that material and then carry out the recreation of the stencil work from that point. i think it's important when people come to see the pabst mansion that these are original details we're putting back. these aren't just things we're picking out of catalogs or pattern books. going out into the second floor hall, this was more or less a drawing room, comfortable pieces of furniture in this hall. the painting as a showstopper for this it particular space was acquired by us and it's entitled farewell to the homeland. the pabsts would have purchased this in the 1880s, it was painted in 1856. in the decade around when captain and mrs. pabst both emigrated to america from germany. and so this painting in particular would have had such great resonance with captain and mrs. pabst in that they would have experienced all the emotion of leaving one's homeland for the unknown. this conveys all the great sadness. on the left side underneath the old varnish, you also have two or three gentlemen having a drink and looking forward. and so this is conveying both sides of the emigration story. the sadness of leaving one's homeland but also looking forward to new opportunities. this is the master suite. this particular room is the master sitting room. this would have been mrs. pabst's inner sanctum where she would have had her sewing table and her correspondence and more so of the spaceses that we've seen throughout the pabst mansion today.

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