Pabst Mansion, Milwaukee (must see)

The Pabst Mansion is located at 2000 W. Wisconsin Avenue, and was once the home to Captain Frederick Pabst, founder of the Pabst Brewing Company. Captain Pabst commissioned Milwaukee architect George Bowman Ferry to design a mansion in the Flemish Renaissance Revival style. The Pabst family lived at the mansion from 1892 until 1908, when the Archdiocese of Milwaukee purchased the mansion. For the next 67 years, five Archbishops as well as many priests and sisters lived at the Pabst mansion.

In 1978, Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., purchased the mansion, opening it to the public in May of that year. Until the purchase, the mansion had been slated to be demolished to make way for a parking structure. In 1998, Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., was renamed Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion, Inc. The mansion is open to the public, with daily tours. The mansion was the set for a series of 1980 Boston Store holiday commercials. The mansion was also briefly pictured during season 4 of the television sitcom How I Met Your Mother as the childhood home of the character Robin Scherbatsky in the 2008 episode "Happily Ever After".

The first restored room of the Pabst Mansion was the main Dining Room. The ceiling, cove, walls, and paintings above the doors were all painted white by the archdiocese. Recent historic preservation efforts are focusing on the Master Suite. In February and March 2011 paint analysis was performed on the ceilings of the Master Bedroom and Sitting Room.