1584 North Prospect Avenue

Summary

McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County
Architect: Horatio R. Wilson
Date of construction: 1904

The McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion is one of Milwaukee's best residential examples of the Neo-Classical Revival style, featuring a symmetrically balanced façade and colossal portico with Corinthian columns. It is constructed of red Galesburg brick and Michigan brownstone, with copper trim and wrought iron railings adorning the exterior. The interior is lavishly decorated with a Tiffany "Magnolia" design window on the stair landing, leather wall coverings, extensive plasterwork and woodwork, leaded glasswork, and gold leaf ceilings.

The ornately-designed residence reflects the transformation of Prospect Avenue in the 1880s, when older structures were replaced by elaborate and extravagant mansions. This area came to be known as Milwaukee's "Gold Coast," where some of the city's wealthiest citizens resided. The McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion was no exception. It was built in 1904 for Charles L. McIntosh, a successful industrialist as well as president of the First National Bank. In 1921, the home was sold to William Osbourne Goodrich and his wife Marie, daughter of beer baron Frederick Pabst. They resided here with their children until they moved in 1932 and leased the building to the Wisconsin College of Music.

Now known as the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the former home has ties to Milwaukee's musical history, as well as the history of music education in general. Milwaukee's musical history began with various German singing groups. From these developed three music schools that combined in 1899 to form the Wisconsin College of Music. In the same year, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music was founded, also from German roots. As both institutions grew, the Wisconsin College of Music became the "largest institute of the kind" in Wisconsin, with students from all over the country by 1922.

The College first occupied the McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion in 1932. In 1968, the Wisconsin College of Music and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music united to become the present-day Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Today the Conservatory endures as the oldest and largest independent music school in Wisconsin.

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