Once called a 'haunted house,' this Victorian mansion in Wisconsin was just snapped up for $1.5 million see inside
Jordan Pandy
- The Jenkins Austin Day Mansion in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was originally built in 1874.
- The mansion holds the record for highest asking price in Wauwatosa, its listing agent told Insider.
A Victorian mansion built in 1874 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, hit the market in July for $1.5 million. Despite having the costliest price tag in the city's history, according to its listing agent, the property was scooped up by a buyer only days later — but not before giving curious onlookers a peek inside.
The 19th-century home, nicknamed the Jenkins Austin Day Mansion, is a landmark in Wauwatosa, a town just seven miles outside of Milwaukee, and is even on the National Register of Historic Places.
The property was originally owned by Dr. Fisk Holbrook Day, the only doctor in town during the late 1800s, according to listing agent Donna Duesing. It sat vacant for a decade during the 1930s and was in "shambles" at one point, Duesing told Insider.
"Part of the marble fireplace in the dining room was across the way in the Menominee River Parkway," she said.
At one point, it was even regarded as the local "haunted house," according to a report from the Wauwatosa Landmark Commission.
The 3,525-square-foot mansion was restored in the 1980s and is now a beloved neighborhood fixture.
There's been some additions, like the attached garage that was added on in 1997, but for the most part, the house still holds onto the same Victorian charm it had in the 1800s. Take a look inside.
The Jenkins Austin Day Mansion, nicknamed after some of its previous owners, hit the market for $1.5 million, the highest asking price of a home in Wauwatosa history, according to Duesing.
The house has a deep history dating back to the 19th century.
"It was built in 1874 by Dr. Fisk Holbrook Day," Duesing told Insider. "He came from New York, and he was the only doctor in the city of Wauwatosa at the time."
Pianist and native Wisconsinite Liberace wanted to buy the home and turn it into a museum in the 1970s, according to Duesing, but instead opted to do that in Nevada.
Its Victorian look is unique in the neighborhood, Duesing said.
"At night with it lit up, it looks a little haunted," Duesing added. "But I can truly tell you that the atmosphere in that home is just lovely."
The former owner of the house, Mary Jenkins, lived there for 26 years, but is downsizing, Duesing said.
In 1895, the house was acquired by Abe S. Austin who sold off some of the original 8½-acre property and turned it into a multifamily building, Duesing said.
By the 1930s, the house was abandoned and boarded up.
"For nearly 10 years it sat vacant while vandals threw rocks at the windows, destroyed two original porches, smashed marble fireplaces and generally enjoyed playing in what had come to be known as 'the haunted house,'" according to the report from the Wauwatosa Landmark Commission.
Pete Glaeser and Julie Jagemann, who owned the home in the 1980s, made serious renovations and brought the property into this century.
"When we purchased the house it had fallen into disrepair and it required a gut renovation, which we undertook with the help of friends and family," Jagemann told OnMilwaukee in July.
The appliances are updated, as well as the light fixtures and plastering. Even still, the home maintains a historic feeling.
Duesing boasted the livability of the house compared to other Victorian homes that look are more compartmentalized with so many extra rooms.
"It's just so conducive of today's modern family," Duesing said. "We have a 21-foot, soaring ceiling in the family room right off the kitchen. Those are the things that people enjoy today."
The patterned wallpaper, which was part of Jagemann's remodel, provided the Victorian flair buyers were looking for.
"Those wallpapers are from the 1980s, but she really did a good job at trying to mimic what would've been," Duesing said of Jagemann's restoration work.
Good thing, too. The wallpaper was used throughout the house.
The mansion has three bedrooms that all have their own unique character.
The new buyers plan on finishing the attic space, Duesing said.
According to Duesing, Dr. Day would send his kids up a four-story turret to look for a white flag at the county hospital to see if he needed to make rounds.
The walls, floors, and light fixtures were all put in by Jagemann to replicate what the home would have looked like in the 1800s.
"The wallpapers, the lighting, the transom window above the bedroom entrance door — Julie had those made for the era to which they would be honoring," Duesing said. "She really did a lot of homework there."
The current owner, Jenkins, added the breezeway that connects the house to the garage.
"When you do a historic home, whenever you do an addition to the exterior, it's like climbing a mountain to get everybody to agree with what you're going to do," Duesing said. "But the inside you can do whatever you want to on a historic home here in Wisconsin."
Jenkins also designed the outdoor patio.
"The glassway to the added garage is just very peaceful," Duesing said. "The water trickling off the fountain there and the birds and a couple bunnies run by, and there's deer that come through there."
There used to be a carriage house about 100 yards from the main property, but now there's just a battered shed.
Duesing had some ideas for what can be done with that part of the property.
"The foundation is still there for the carriage house," she said. "I told them they need to rebuild that and make it an Airbnb."
Duesing trusts the new owners will continue to preserve the home's history.
"These people that are buying it absolutely love history and that was just endearing to the family," Duesing said. "That was part of the reason why they wanted the property, and that made the whole family very happy."
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