The Pfister Hotel is a luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

in downtown

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, United States. The Pfister Hotel is a member of

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...

, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Owned by Guido Pfister and his son,

Charles F. Pfister Charles F. Pfister (June 17, 1859 – November 12, 1927) was a wealthy tannery magnate, bank financier, utility owner, newspaper publisher, hotelier and philanthropist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was also a central figure in the stalwart "Old Guar ...

, it was opened in 1893 at a cost of over $1 million. Designed by architect

Henry C. Koch Henry C. Koch (March 30, 1841 – May 19, 1910) was a German-American architect based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Biography Born in Hanover in the Kingdom of Hanover, Koch immigrated as a toddler with his family to the United States. His architect ...

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, it had features uncommon in its time like

fireproofing Fireproofing is rendering something (structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

, and thermostat controls. The Pfister Hotel Tower cropped

The hotel was purchased by hospitality magnate

Ben Marcus Ben Marcus (born October 11, 1967) is an American author and professor at Columbia University. He has written four books of fiction. His stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in publications including ''Harper's'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The ...

in 1962, who renovated the hotel and added a 13-story addition behind the building without compromising the original building itself, and continues to be owned by the Marcus Corporation. The Pfister Hotel has the largest hotel collection of

Victorian art The Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the United Kingdom since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and encompasses English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art, and forms ...

in the world. The hotel has held the AAA Four Diamond award for 37 years, since the inception of the ranking itself in 1977.Thepfisterhotel.com
/ref> It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as part of the East Side Commercial Historic District. With The 1986 National Register nomination states:

The Pfister is the last nineteenth century grand hotel remaining in downtown Milwaukee. Local materials were used in its construction with rock-faced, Wauwatosa limestone for the first two floors and cream brick for the third through eighth floors.
Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
and
terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
were used as trim. Changes to the exterior include the removal of the massive stone portico on the Jefferson Street facade and the closing of an entrance at the southeast corner. The main lobby has been refurbished and restored to resemble its original appearance."

References

Skyscraper hotels in Milwaukee Historic Hotels of America {{Wisconsin-struct-stub

See also

References