MILWAUKEE – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Frederick and Maria Pabst House in Milwaukee (Milwaukee County) on the State Register of Historic Places. The house, located at 2000 West Wisconsin Avenue, has been operated as a house museum since 1978.
The Pabst House is the only high-style Flemish Renaissance Revival that has been identified to date, and it is the sole “academic” example of the style that has yet been found outside of New York City. Though previously listed on the State and National Registers, additional documentation now recognizes the Pabst House for its architectural significance at the national level. Documentation also recognized Captain Frederick Pabst as a national figure, significant for his marketing and industrial prominence in the beer industry in the late 1800s.
Flemish Renaissance Revival is a very rare style in this country, recognizable by its steeply pitched roofs with stepped or curvilinear gables. The Pabst House was completed in 1892 and designed by Ferry and Clas, important Milwaukee architects. The house rises to three stories on load-bearing masonry walls embellished with abundant terra cotta ornament. The Pabst Brewery became the largest lager brewery in the United States during the 1870s, and the largest in the world by 1892 when Frederick Pabst completed his grand mansion.
The State Register is Wisconsin’s official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin’s heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.
Additional information for the Frederick and Maria Pabst House is available at
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
