Imagine building your dream house and filling
it with nothing, just empty, open space. Why would anyone do this? Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"!! In the late 1800s, John Plankinton was known
all around Milwaukee for his real-estate developments. He hired local talent and sourced local materials
to construct some of the most beautiful mansions the city had ever seen. When his daughter, Elizabeth, was proposed
to by sculptor Richard Hamilton Park, John wanted to give the young couple the best wedding
present that money could buy. He commissioned Milwaukee based architect,
Edward Townsend Mix to design his daughter a towering Richardsonian Romanesque Mansion. It was constructed from cream city brick with
elaborate terracotta tiles and accented by granite columns. The mansion was to boast a myriad of artisan
details in its ashlar and sandstone entablatures as well as delicately crafted iron work and
stained glass windows. Just as the house was being finished, Elizabeth’s
fiancée was found to be living a double life. He had been seeing another lady, and Elizabeth
called off the wedding. Upon the house’s completion, she couldn’t
bare to move into it with all the memories reminding her of heartbreak, so she let it
sit empty. Inside the empty home, we will pass through
the front door and turn to the side to find the Main Hall. The main hall acts as a reception room, welcoming
guests in front of a hearth. The walls and ceilings are clad in wood paneling,
and just beyond this area, an archway boasting elaborate fretwork leads us to the stair hall. The grand stairs are carved from old growth
wood with ornate balustrade terminating on newel posts capped by urns. At the landing, we can take a closer look
at the artisan millwork which her father paid a small fortune to have completed. Above us, the coffered wood ceiling is inlaid
with hand crafted brass panels and broken up by layers of intricate trim. Opposite the stair hall is the men’s lounge. The fireplace is set on a wall of mirrors,
reflecting light from the oversized bay window. Each window was equipped with built in shutters
which pulled up from their sills. Going further into the house, the next empty
room took on a more gothic theme in its wall paneling and boasted an elaborate plaster
frieze below its coffered ceiling. We can imagine the reading room and library
finished out with overstuffed furniture and freestanding bookcases, though the architectural
elements are the only clues to the potential of these rooms. We can begin making our way upstairs to find
the rest of the documented rooms. At the second floor stair landing, we can
pause to admire the shear level of craftsmanship required by the staircase. Then, we can turn around to find the central
hall finished out with wainscotting, French doors, and a built in mirror. The first bedroom we will see only has a detail
shot of the fireplace, but what a sight it is with its pencil thin fretwork framing a
mystifying stained glass window. The other bedroom we will see shares a similar
perspective, though we can notice just how elaborate the millwork is with wooden rosettes
worked into the crown molding. Finally, we can make our way up to the third
floor stair hall, which is flooded by natural light. Above us, on the ceiling, is a massive skylight
where the coffered ceiling transitions into a coffered cove ceiling. From here we can make our way down the hall
and step out into the top of the tower to look out over Milwaukee. After sitting empty for 10 years, Elizabeth
sold the house to a widow who lived in it alone until 1910. The Knights of Columbus purchased the house
and built out several large additions. Then, in 1975, Marquette University purchased
the building and presented plans for demolition. This caused a local uproar and the following
year it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nonetheless, the university continued, arguing
that it was “a monument to Victorian bad taste.” Even though the Historic American Buildings
Survey had noted that the mansion had a “pristine exterior and an intact interior.” Even with public sentiment in favor of saving
the mansion, the university followed through with its demolition plans and expanded its
campus to the side of where the house once stood, leaving an empty lot with nothing to
replace the mansion. This event directly lead to the creation of
the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission the following year in order to
protect the dwindling supply of Milwaukee’s architecturally and historically significant
buildings from the wrecking ball. An empty mansion was reduced to an empty lot,
but at least we have a handful of photos to remember it by. Did you have a favorite room or architectural
feature? Let me know down below in the comments section
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exciting episode of "ThisHouse"
