The really sad part about finding out about these demolitions is knowing that these magnificent mansions of yesteryear will never be reproduced like they were, back in the day when true craftsmen took pride in their work. These days, houses are built to last 40-50 years, and the majority of today's architecture can't hold a candle to the prestigious workmanship oozing from the homes of yesterday, including the smaller homes. So sad to destroy such beauty for a parking lot that could be built anywhere. What's the point in stealing a spot already occupied by a gem that could have been refurbished into student housing, class rooms, or whatever other purpose a college might have?
My thoughts as well. The college have used it art exhibits, for meetings, for clubs like poetry or as you mentioned. Even better the City itself could have bought it , refurbished and and done the same, a place for special events or occasions, a historical museum of the city. Surely great minds could come up with something .... one would think, right?
When I was very little....3 or 4 years old, (1957 and 1958) the Knights of Columbus owned this house. My grandfather was a member and, every year, they threw a Christmas party for the children. The huge tree was, if I recall correctly, placed in the parlor to the right of the front entrance. I clearly remember staring at it for an extremely long time since it was the first time I ever saw antique ornaments. I remember that the staircase wood was honey colored, like oak. The interior sort of glowed and I think they had lit fires in those fireplaces too. I also remember asking my father to buy a house just like that one and he got a real kick out of that. We walked through the rooms where they had tables set up and they gave each of us a wrapped gift, a popcorn ball, and a huge stocking full of candy that I did NOT have to share with my siblings. It was my first time seeing all those things. I felt awful the day they tore this down. Nobody knew it would happen until, suddenly, there were special news reports on tv. For heaven's sake. What idiot suddenly needed to tear the Plankington mansion down?
I grew up in Milwaukee and remembered passing by this place as a child in the 60s. My mom told me it belonged to the Knights of Columbus and I had no idea who they were. Wow it’s been ages since I saw an image of this place. How sad this happened. I live in Phoenix now and, a lot of historic buildings from yesteryear have also been demolished here to make way for housing developments.
@user-lx3ud4uj2v Wow, can feel your heartache! Felt the same way when they closed down the wonderful famous landmark restaurant in historic Boston , Durgin Park that served great authentic Yankee New England cooking and had been such a success since it first opened in 1827! Many famous people had eaten there, too! Thankfully, I have their great cookbook, but now so many have been deprived of ever eating there and enjoying their great food with an also great atmosphere! Europe doesn't do this they still have buildings since the ancient Roman and Greek eras, Mideival era and Victorian era, castles, palaces, mansions, restaurants like one I ate in, in beautiful Paris created 400 years ago! They still have the palace and kitchen of King Henry the 8th and his kitchen is still in use for demonstrations about how they cooked and what he ate back then! I also went to Rome and visited their ancient ruins and toured the Palace of Versailles as an art student many moons ago. It's mind boggling how so many have such disregard for our precious history and past! Shame on all of them! smdh
The woodwork on the staircases was incredible! I could spend an hour just looking at the detailing. So much talent went into these kinds of homes back then. Makes most of today’s homes look like “blah”.
It's unbelievable that the university demolished a historic mansion for a parking lot, considering that the surrounding buildings lack ANY architectural significance? 🤔😠
At least with this one destroyed, it caused more to be saved. Same thing happened in Sacramento CA, a gorgeous theater was torn down for a Safeway grocery store, many worked to save it but nothing worked but the preservation group got stronger and Sacramento as a city government got behind it
You don’t know what you e got til it’s gone….. At least the one thing everyone here has in common is great architecture and the desire to preserve a part of history. Sadly such a mistake….especially when it featured architects from that area.
I almost teared up when I saw the demo picture. Why would anyone want to destroy such a monumentally beautiful house in favor of a parking lot? It seems that the university could have used it as offices, etc. Sad, sad, sad
Such a shame. But back then, these fabulous structures were considered to be ugly. They'd rather have a nasty modernist block instead. I still can't believe the damage done from the '60 - -70s.
Well that was a shocker.... There I was watching the video and looking forward to seeing the house as I thought it might exist today, then out of nowhere the house is gone! I wasn't expected that ending at all, and I actually gasped and said "No way" out loud. It's true. Others have commented as to the damage done mid-century and it is certainly a shame that so much has been lost. On the plus side, there are a great many restored homes and buildings, and what is happening in Detroit is a great example, where they restore a crumbling mass of bricks into an amazing architectural treasure. I really do enjoy this channel.
Oh man! What a tragedy! We see people trying to restore houses of a similar age that have fallen into ruin. If this had been saved back then, and incorporated into the University as a special event space, library for special archives, art display space, or even offices, how many people could have enjoyed the views from the fun tower, the decorative facade, and that fantastic interior woodwork? Too bad there aren't more pictures. I'm always glad when I see a Victorian house that has been incorporated into the grounds of a school or hospital. So much of that late mid-century commercial construction was just boring and ugly. In our Downtown, a number of old warehouses, commercial buildings, hotels, and private homes from the 1880s through the early 1950s have been restored and are living on, though often with a new use. Fun to see a night club or cafe in a 1930s former auto shop. Every one has something decorative or unique about it.
There a similar one in St. Louis (I can't remember the school) but a channel similar to this one did a tour of it once- it was AMAZING!!!! My all time favorite room in it was the top floor turret room!!!!
So many uses could have been done with this beautiful mansion. A counseling or welcoming center, museum, library….but instead they got a parking lot. Thank you, Ken, for keeping architectural history alive. Wish you had been able to give a live tour before it was torn down.
Horrible. Marquette could've used that incredible house as part of their campus. It's better now but the struggle continues. And what do they usually replace such beauty with? Parking lots, athletic fields, more condos and sky high buildings. Ugh.
What a terrible waste. A beautiful intact house demolished. I can't say which room was my favorite as they were all so beautiful. I did really like the entrance hall.
I'll never forget seeing a hallway in the James J. Hill mansion, which cost a million to have made. All hand carved wood, it was more of a sculpture than wood paneling.
..yes, some of the architectural features were "saved" and given to the city. Those features were in storage for years and auctioned off over 15 years ago (from this posting 2023).
When i see buildings like this, I bounce between being in awe of the design and craft, and scorn for its extravagance when so many live in poverty. I wonder how the craftspeople who made this building lived.
..there is nothing wrong with extravagance of this nature as, it is a personal art form. Back in that era, homes were an expression of ones self-achievement. Not everyone wanted/wants a big home, but for those that do, they have a born right to do what they want. A home is not built to offend. Socialism as seen as an even keel structure for social living fairness, is actually unfair to achievers who aspire to personalize their self-expression, in this case, a home. Poverty, and how some choose to have it influence and manage their lives, will always be alive in a social system, for whatever reason. View the house as art, and not as a related social commentary.
The craftspeople who built houses like this lived well. At the time, they were valued for their particular skills & artistry and paid accordingly. They were sought after individuals. But as work like this house (and public works of high craft in general) became politically unacceptable to people like you, they tended to no longer find valued employment and were often replaced by unskilled labor. Their pay went down, their lives got worse and the skills associated with them largely disappeared. Poverty still existed but we lived in a more ugly world.
@@Jim-Tuner I'm glad that the craftspeople who built these homes were well paid. But please elaborate on "But as work like this house...became politically unacceptable...they tended to no longer find valued employment..." I'm wondering if the craftspeople weren't hired as much because the economy changed and there were fewer people who could afford to hirer them. You're welcome to elaborate on "politically unacceptable" since I'm apparently in that group.
That old growth wood must have been extremely expensive. I'm always amazed at the quality of craftsmanship that it took to create something so beautiful, more than likely with only hand tools. Milwaukee had at the time a large German population who brought the artform over to America. Sadly very few people have the knowledge to replicate those techniques. Which makes saving buildings like these extremely important.
The old growth quality wood was not expensive in the United States at the time these houses were built. But eventually the majority of the old growth wood had been used and it became much more expensive. The craftsmanship associated with these buildings is mostly gone because the majority of people don't want it. The vast majority of people today prefer sterile, factory-produces styles for their homes. They want plain metal and stone for the most part. If they include wood, they want to appear almost inorganic. Houses like this could still be built if there were enough people who wanted them. But there are not.
I lived in Milwaukee as a child and remember this house along the lake front, along with many others. I can not believe it has been torn down. How sick is the university to be so brazen to think it was "in bad taste" and also believe they were capable to judge. They obviously were not qualified. Just so sad they did this.
This was fairly common in the 50s, 60s and 70s. That is why so many people interested in restoration today have to fix things like added drop ceilings, cheap parquet flooring laid over beautiful woods, and so on. It still happens. My little Craftsman with its wavy glass windows, all original, the big sheets of glass windows in my living room and dining room, all these original things the house had in abundance, since it had been owned by the same family since it was built in 1912, have been, since I sold the house, utterly and totally destroyed. Also, the heirloom plantings, the summer blooming hydrangea, all my ferns, the black raspberry bushes, the raised beds behind the house - destroyed. I've never met the current home owners but boy oh boy am I glad I haven't. I'd have said unforgivable things. I cried when I saw what they'd done to my house.
To be perfectly clear, the Plankinton Mansion did not stand on the Lakefront. It stood on Grand Avenue. You can tell from the round building behind it, which was still standing when I left Milwaukee in 2005. Most (if not all) of the Mansions along the lake from north of the North Avenue Water Tower are still standing.
A spectacular house. The woodwork was so extensive and beautifullydone throughout that I can't pick a favorite. I will never understand how and why buildings like this could not be saved. I guess the upkeep is massive.
They were built so well that upkeep was rarely ever an issue. The usual problems in buildings like this were lack of modern internal infrastructure for heating, cooling, electricity and plumbing. Its difficult to retrofit the houses to properly fix those things.
That home was built to last centuries! The upkeep on a trailer or modern home is extensive. Modern homes can go to crap in 30 years. That is all they are engineered to last for. The roof will need redone, the plumbing, the electrical, the windows and if it is a newer wood frame house, it will need to be demolished because the timber won't be structurally sound due to rot and insect destruction.
I grew up in Milwaukee and moved to Dallas in 1978. I stayed away from Milwaukee for a long time. In 2010 I went back to visit. I was amazed at all the beautiful architecture and gothic and victorian buildings. The Milwaukee Public Library - which I used to walk by every morning and never noticed - was absolutley AMAZING. Dallas does not have buildings like these.........When you don't have it, you appreciate it more.
The saddest story since the demise of Penn Station in New York in 1963. Oh god, how horrid that was. How can people destroy such beauty, I'd die to have to witness it. Very well-done video, thank you.
Holy crap!!! I grew up in Milwaukee. I left in 1974 never to return. I have fond memories of this beautiful house and had no idea that Marquette University had acquired and demolished it. Such a travesty!!! Thanks for your video.
..you are correct about $ rules when it comes to a city. Marquette brings in so much, that the city officials cave in to any issue Marquette needs to flex their muscle. ...and MU knows they can get away with almost in not, anything.
As kids we would take the bus downtown and pick out "our" house, the house we'd live in if we were rich. I always picked out the Plankinton mansion. It was heartbreaking when Marquette forever destroyed that work of art. They are disgusting. I've never seen the inside of that beautiful home until now. Thank you.
What a fascinating story of this beautiful, historic, iconic, majestic mansion! Loved all the great details! Thanks for a great presentation and wonderful narration! I've always had a life long appreciation of old historic homes ever since summering in my late grandmother's house on old Cape Cod, built in 1776! My late mother used to take me to various old historic homes here in New England where we have very deep ancestral roots in NH ever since 1648 and 1721 from the UK and Scotland. I've been a professional illustrator and created a line of greeting cards cut by hand of famous iconic buildings and architectural styles and I also traveled throughout Europe which expanded my appreciation of old historic buildings, cathedrals etc. I hate it when people destroy the past and take a wrecking ball to old historic homes, landmark restaurants or inns/hotels because once they destroy our past history there is no getting it back, once it's gone, it's gone for good! smdh So always support the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington D.C. Can't believe that even after it was on the National Registry they tore that down, what a shame!! smdh
A GORGEOUS house. Such WONDERFUL INTRICATE work you couldn’t get today. Everyone wants to use machines. Well no machine made staircase, fireplace, etc can COMPARE toe these HAND MADE masterpieces!!!
😢What a crying shame...That really hurts my heart. There was so much that they could have done with that beautiful mansion..I hope they at least saved alot of the old wood and fixtures..
i grew up in Milwaukee and lived a few blocks from this mansion. Marquette demolished many mansions on Wisconsin Avenue as it expanded its campus. i was born in a house located on 25th Street, between Wells and Wisconsin. I remember the two mansions on this block which were demolished. The one on the corner of Wisconsin and 25th, was demolished when I was a child and was replaced by a gas station. What an insult to that house! As I remember the house, it had a large front porch that faced Wisconsin Avenue and was constructed with cream city bricks. The mansion directly next door to it on 25th Street was torn down sometime after i had already moved out of Wisconsin, and was replaced by a generic and ugly apartment house. The house I was born in on 25th Street had been built in 1908. My parents bought the house from two sisters who had lived in the house for many years before selling it. My parents walled off the open staircase and converted the second and third floor rooms into rooming house rental units. Some of the houses across from what was Concordia College mirrored our house, and i was able to see years later what the house looked like pre-conversion via a house tour of historic homes in the 80's. The Schindler mansion (my mother said this mansion was always known as "the castle" in her childhood) had been located on 24th and Wisconsin and was demolished sometime in the 1920's and replaced by what was then Milwaukee County Hospital. Fortunately, the hospital building preserved most of the grounds located on that site. When the hospital was moved and the building was replaced by a school, much of the landscaping was torn down. That neighborhood at one time was lovely, and every house on 25th Street had flower gardens in the front and back yards. Wells Street also had mansions that were demolished. I'm always seeking out old photos of the demolished houses, but so far I've had no luck in finding any photos with the exception of the Schindler mansion.
@@tashayar75 yes. im not a fan of the wright houses. beaver dam has some great ones. i have pictures of some of the old mansions in milwauke as my family use to own red star yeast in Milwaukee. old pics of my grandmother in fur coats as a child driving excalibers around. those were made off of 107th st...aka hwy 100
So, sad. That last side shot shows that it had become island. No longer surrounded by a neighborhood. I would have loved to see that long gone neighborhood where probably every home was different. And just think about the trees and landscaping that had once existed. All in the name of progress. .. yea right. Nice to see it though!! These homes are like differing patterns of porcelain dinnerware, with all of the homeowners unique taste stamp. Fascinating!
I love this channel. Great work. Incredible houses we wouldn't have known existed. Truly a shame that they are lost forever. Thanks to you at least they won't we forgotten.
Wow, what a beautiful house! Did they sell the contents of the mansion? Like the wood, ceilings and stained glass windows? Thank you for sharing this!! ❤
I had a friend who bought a house like that in Southern IL in the 80s. Not nearly so fancy though, but very fancy for the area. Not in town, but a half mile away. It was built with running water for the full bathroom and kitchen and boiler heated hot water. Very high profile in 1904
What a horrible shame! The could've at least taken it apart carefully and re-built it somewhere else with lots of lovely landscaping around it. The detailing throughout it was magnificent. Thankfully, now cities are turning these lovely mansions into tourist attractions people can walk through.
I’m from Milwaukee. I’m sure I’ve driven past that mansion before it was demolished. The round building behind it is very familiar to me. I believe it was used for low income housing. I still get driven around Milwaukee when I visit. I love my hometown. Thank you for telling the story of a spoiled-rotten daughter. Imagine refusing to live in the mansion her father built for her. Anyway, there are Plankington place names all over Milwaukee. Very familiar!
I really like the first bedroom with its fireplace and trim made to look like bamboo, and that wonderful leaded glass window (would love to have see it in color). How sad the house was lost, but this often happens - the loss of a significant building is necessary to get a preservation ordinance passed to preserve other buildings. The sacrificial lamb!!
What an incredible museum and educational historical visit that would have been for all the schoolchildren in the area over the generations. Landmarks used to be protected and that certainly should have been protected . Unfortunately the anti-Americanism over misinformation about our history and foundation it's causing people to disrespect and not appreciate our historical sites. Local communities like certain Universites do not cherish and do not call for preservation any longer and that is a problem. What an incredible study hall it would have been. I've have noticed that local universities will buy home after home and surrounding areas and once they attain a block that will knock down the homes and then they force their policies on local communities overpowering the residence and influencing elected officials in order to control the neighborhoods that they sprawl and take over and some of the policies are very anti-American, unconstitutional, endangering security and history and this has to stop.
For this crime against Milwaukee, no one should EVER donate as much as a penny to Marquette University ever again. (BTW: the millwork and carving was the best part overall, IMHO.)
As a lifelong Milwaukeean, I remember the building, and the furor when it was demolished. However,I can't quite remember where it stood...was it around 16th and Wisconsin Ave?
Sadly a similar fate befell a grand Victorian mansion here in Ohio. A local high school purchased it only to demolish it to build a new high school where it once stood.
I was living in Milwaukee when Marquette demolished the mansion. The issue of whether to save and protect the building or let Marquette take it down was coming before a judge. The night before the judge's ruling, Marquette had a bulldozer plow into it, rendering any decision moot. This was done in the middle of the night so there would be no protesters.
In Europe they have buildings that are almost 2000 years old still in use. They would never think to demolish them. Here, we can't seem to keep much that is 200 years old.
Whatever shreds of respect I may still have held for academia have just evaporated. "Monument to Victorian bad taste"? There's only one thing in bad taste in this tale, and it's not the house.
Demerits to the decision makers at Marquette University! But, these sad actions still occur, today. The college in the city, here - which has ironically won Historic Preservation awards in the past for saving some buildings - during the last 10 years has been the destroyer of many an old building so that they can reuse the land space with modern developments. Many of these buildings could have been moved, but not for this college. The Plankinton House was so divine in all its detail.
The man who built this home his dream protected future homes so we could see his dream and other’s so All was not in vain! He left a legacy! Thank you for keeping his vision alive!
It’s todays culture. Tear down and erase the past build and install banal and generic everything. God forbid we keep what little culture we had or have.
Tragic and sad that the city of Milwaukee did not save and preserve that house of beauty and historic significance. The city is stupid and beyond dumb for not saving that gem of a mansion.😢😢😢😢
