Water damage and theft didn't stop couple from restoring an 1897 Concordia neighborhood mansion - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Water damage and theft didn't stop couple from restoring an 1897 Concordia neighborhood mansion - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | |
| Posted: 30 May 2019 12:00 AM PDT CLOSE   Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo Autoplay Show Thumbnails Show Captions
At Home With Paul Vissers and Jennifer BlazekovicMost people take about an hour to tour a house they are interested in buying. When Paul Vissers and Jennifer Blazekovic first set foot inside their future home in the Concordia neighborhood in 2011, they went there with a group of people who live nearby to rip up carpeting and mop up water on the first and second floors. The water had poured throughout the house from a broken pipe in the third-floor ballroom. "We had kept in touch with the neighbors, as we wanted to buy it, and they told us the pipe burst," Vissers said. "They all went into the home to save it. Because we wanted to buy it, we wanted to help too." He added that they hadn't been able to get inside until then, as the house was going into foreclosure. Their first look at the interior showed a good amount of damage, but Vissers said he and his fiancé stayed positive. "We could see past the water damage to all the beautiful woodwork and what was still left," he said. But it took until June 2013 to start the process of buying the house from the sheriff's auction, and more damage was done to the house before it was even theirs. "In July of 2013 thieves came into the house and ripped out all the copper," he said. "It didn't affect our purchase price, and because we didn't own it yet, we didn't have any insurance. "I thought, 'man, that royally sucks.' But on the flip side, when we had to have the plumbing redone, we got to put in everything the way we wanted it." By October of that year, they got the title to the house and were finally able to start making more repairs to the 1897 Queen Anne-style home known as the Manegold Mansion. But that process wasn't easy either. "For about six months we worked in here every weekend, and there was no electricity, no water and no heat. We could only do some of the work when it was warmer outside or when it was light out. It took time to get the utilities in because we wanted to get them all done at the same time," but also because of the weather and the costs, he said "When this house was built, after the lathe and plaster was put up, a cotton-like fabric was put over the top (of the walls) to create a smooth look. The water and moisture pulled it all off and it hung like an umbrella from the ceiling fans in nearly all the rooms on the northeast side. "We had to scrape off the cloth and remove and repair some of the plaster. Then we put on wall patch, primer and paint. "We had to run three super-huge commercial dehumidifiers for a full week to get all the moisture out of the house. The plaster was sucking up all the moisture. We were concerned about mold, but because old houses are not as tight (as newer homes), mold doesn't grow as fast," he said. By May 2014 the utilities were up and running and the couple continued to make repairs until they moved in six months later. And in March 2015 their daughter, Vale Vissers, was born. Vissers is an engineer at GE Healthcare. Blazekovic works in customer service for Delta Air Lines. Even though work has been ongoing since they bought the 7,000-square-foot home, which originally had eight bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and two half-baths, Vissers estimated that only about half the work is done. But he said he does see the end of the tunnel. On the first floor all the rooms have been restored. They include a sunroom that was once a front porch, a hallway, a large foyer, a ladies' parlor, music room, dining room, and the fireplace room, which doubles as Vale's toy room. There is also a kitchen with a butler's pantry, a bedroom, a bathroom and front and rear staircases. On the second floor they finished the master bedroom, a guest bedroom, Vale's bedroom, and two bathrooms. Vissers recently talked about his home and the work they plan to finish before their home is featured on this year's Concordia Tour of Homes on June 15. CLOSE This 1897 Queen Anne home in Milwaukee's Concordia neighborhood needed a lot of work. But Paul Vissers and Jennifer Blazekovic saw its potential. Pete Sullivan, Wochit Question: How did you find this house? Answer: We lived Richfield, and we wanted to buy a house in this area. We put offers on two homes in the Concordia neighborhood but weren't able to purchase either one. We attended the Concordia tour that year (in 2011) and talked to people who were involved in the tour. They said we should look at this house. We could only see the outside of it then, but we did see photos of what it looked like inside and we knew it was beautiful. Q: Why did you want to live here? A: Jennifer wanted to live in a big house, and we liked this area because it's close to downtown. It's five minutes from Fiserv Forum. We had also met and liked the people in the area. Q: The floors are beautiful. Are they original? A: Yes. After the pipes burst, we removed the carpeting and the padding that was over it. Later we removed linoleum and a layer of backing under it that looked like tar paper. Then we found the floors. Some areas were buckled, but we were able to repair them. Most of them are oak, but there are also decorative borders that are maple that are stained a dark color. In the kitchen the floors are maple. We had all the floors refinished. Q: How many bedrooms and bathrooms are left to do? A: There are three bedrooms left to do on the second floor and one on the third floor. There are three bathrooms (left to do) on the second floor and one on the third. We closed off the two half-baths, but we can put them back if we need to. Q: Do you know the history of your home? A: I was told it was built by William and Milhelda Manegold and designed by Jacob Jacobi. By the early 1920s homes like this were being converted to rooming houses, nursing homes or fraternity houses, or razed to make room for apartment buildings. Despite later use as a nursing home, living quarters for retired Fathers of the Sacred Heart, and bed and breakfasts, this house survived, with many of its original appointments intact. Q: Any thoughts of turning it back to a bed and breakfast? A: We are considering that. We could turn the ballroom into living space for us and use the first two floors for a bed and breakfast. Q: What are some of the other amenities in your home? A: It has 12-foot ceilings on the first floor, 11-foot on the second floor, six pocket doors on the first floor and one on the second. The house has some original stained glass windows, lots of large windows, transoms, two fireplaces, a dumbwaiter, picture rail molding, coved ceilings, and sinks in some bedrooms. The foyer is 9 by 17 feet and has a long built-in bench, and there is an 8-by-5-foot area off the front staircase were you can sit and look out onto the street. All the doors, paneling and molding are quarter-sawn oak. Q: What's your style of decorating? A: It's not the true Queen Anne style. I feel more at peace with a few key pieces in the house. I like to let the beauty of the house shine through. We don't like a lot of clutter. Our furniture has curved lines and a Victorian shape to them. They are antique in style, and we acquired them since we moved here. We still have to furnish the bedrooms that will be restored. Q: What other projects did you do here? A: We added a new roof, a high-end security system, new light fixtures, electrical, plumbing and a new boiler. We did repair work in the ballroom and on a second-floor porch. We also did work in the lot next door that we bought from the city, cut down a number of large trees and shrubs and cleaned up the gardens. I did all the grunt work, the painting throughout the house and the plumbing on the second floor. Q: Any updates in the kitchen? A: We put in new cabinets in an espresso color, added subway tile in the area behind the sink, but kept the original stainless steel countertop that has three sinks. We also added granite countertop on the other side. Q: How did you update the bathrooms? A: In the bathroom next to the master we saved the tiles from that room and moved them to different walls. We put them over the original tub, built a partial wall to divide the tub and the toilet, put in a double sink with a granite countertop and marble tile on the floor. We also added in-floor heating. The other bathroom we did is in the guest bedroom. We put in a new tub, as the other one was damaged from the copper being removed. There is a large mosaic over that tub. That was put in when it was a bed and breakfast. We also touched up the paint in that room. RELATED: Completion of family dream home was no quick walk in the woods RELATED: A guide to eastern Wisconsin home tours for 2019  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo Buy Photo Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo  Buy Photo Autoplay Show Thumbnails Show Captions Do you, or does someone you know, have a cool, funky or exquisite living space that you'd like to see featured in At Home? Contact home and garden editor Nancy Stohs at (414) 224-2382 or email nstohs@journalsentinel.com. If you goWhat: 29th Historic Concordia Home Tour — Beer, Music and Historic Homes: A self-guided tour of about 12 historic homes and other buildings including the New State, a historical redevelopment project that will transform the old State Theater (originally a silent movie theater), into a community music hub. The homes are in the Concordia neighborhood, which roughly goes from North 27th to North 35th streets and West Wisconsin Ave. to West Highland Blvd. Headquarters are at the Greater Utopian Pentecostal Church, 2925 W. State St., Milwaukee When: From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 15. Tickets: $17 in advance through June 14, $20 the day of the tour. Events: A kickoff speech at 10 a.m. by John Eastberg, executive director of the Pabst Mansion. Pie and cake social, baked goods and beverages, beer tastings and food, silent auction, musical entertainment at various tour locations. For more information/advance ticket locations: Call (414) 459-9375 or see hcni.org. Read or Share this story: https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/home-garden/at-home-with/2019/05/30/historic-1897-concordia-mansion-milwaukee-restored-couple/1272097001/ |
| Opinion | Great Lakes need protection. But shutting Line 5 is foolish. - Bridge Michigan Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:00 AM PDT First, the "do nothing" option is foolish. We dodged a bullet; we might not be so lucky in the future. Enbridge, the pipeline operator, immediately developed and put into motion a plan. They will pay for the entire project and ensure the future protection of the lakes. This differs from BP's reaction to the Gulf of Mexico spill; Enbridge is acting responsibly. The second choice: close it down is a knee-jerk reaction that is nearly as unwise as the do-nothing path. To shut down the line immediately, as some elected officials have proposed (demanded actually), makes no sense. There is no immediate threat. The line isn't leaking and prudent actions have been taken to prevent a repeat of the anchor strike scenario. If an accident did occur, the increased monitoring would allow for an immediate shutdown. That would still be bad, but not BP in the Gulf bad. So that leaves the middle of the road. Action is needed, but we do have the time to do it correctly, in a manner that doesn't add to the economic challenges Michigan already faces. Line 5 has an enormously beneficial effect on Michigan's economy. Enbridge alone pumps close to $160 million in taxes, wages and capital expenditures into Michigan; shutting down the line would severely curtail that. The cost of fuel refined in southern Michigan (and neighboring Ohio) would skyrocket if left to be transported by truck, the most likely alternative to the line. There are also hidden infrastructure costs accrued through the thousands of additional tanker trucks. Ideology shouldn't drive this decision, nor should corporate greed. Take the middle road; Continue the already started mitigation plan, which will provide a protected pipeline for decades to come. Put in place the protections our lakes deserve without placing the burden on the backs of working-class Michiganders. The Enbridge mitigation project is a prime example of the types of inter-country energy infrastructure projects that sustain our highly integrated and interdependent North American energy market built with our United States – Mexico - Canada (USMCA) trading partners. We bring in raw materials from Canada and Mexico, convert them to higher-value products and then resell them. As a result, we have seen tremendous value creation and investment happening across the North American energy industry. This sort of systemic integration enhances U.S. energy security by enabling North American energy self-sufficiency. These types of pipeline modernization projects will only further bolster our nation's energy security by allowing us to meet the demands of consumers and businesses efficiently while sustaining an energy market that provides millions of jobs across the country. Finally, prematurely decommissioning a project like Line 5 and halting investments in critical energy transmission infrastructure would immediately disrupt the energy supply for Michigan residents, businesses and U.S. refineries. Jobs will be lost. In the longer term, it would undermine the system that NAFTA has built and USMCA intends to sustain. Let's protect the lakes and the people of Michigan. |
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