Pabst Mansion

The Pabst Mansion is the finest reminder of the years when beer made Milwaukee rich. Captain Frederick Pabst, a former Great Lakes ship captain who built his father-in-law's brewery into the largest in America, completed this house on Grand Avenue, now West Wisconsin Avenue, in the early 1890s. Built in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style, it was one of the most lavish homes in the city, with richly carved woodwork, decorative ironwork, stained glass and the latest comforts of the age. After the Pabst family, the house served for decades as the residence of Milwaukee's archbishops, and in the 1970s it was saved from demolition by preservationists who restored it and opened it to the public. Today you see the main rooms filled with furnishings and objects that belonged to the family, along with the pavilion that once stood at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Guided tours bring the family and the brewing empire to life, and the house tells the wider story of German Milwaukee at its peak. Each holiday season, the mansion is decorated for its annual Christmas at the Pabst Mansion event.

Planning the visit: the mansion is at 2000 West Wisconsin Avenue, west of downtown near Marquette University. Its posted hours are Sunday to Thursday from 10am to 4pm and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 5pm, though event hours can differ during the holiday season, so check before you go. Classic guided tours run on the hour, and you should arrive at least ten minutes early to check in at the Visitor Center and Gift Shop in The Marq building, next door to the west. Reserving a time online is recommended, though onsite admission is available.

Christmas at the Pabst Mansion: during the holiday season the rooms are decorated with a new theme each year, and visitors can tour at their own pace. Adult tickets are in the low twenties in dollars, with reductions for seniors, students and the military, cheaper tickets for children aged 6 to 15 and free entry for children 5 and under. Special events such as Father Christmas visits and evening tours are listed on the mansion's website.

Making it count: allow about an hour to an hour and a half. The mansion is easy to reach by car or bus along Wisconsin Avenue, and it combines well with a stay at the Brewhouse Inn and Suites in the old Pabst brewery, a short ride away, for a full day of Milwaukee's beer history.