Post by eric j. nordstrom

in my humble opinion, the kalvelage mansion - also known as the "castle on kilbourn," is one of the greatest mansions left standing in milwaukee. the german baroque style structure was designed by architect otto strack for joseph b. kalvelage in 1896 - he lived there until 1920. the ornamental hand wrought iron was executed by cyril colnik (a section of salvaged ironwork from the non-extant residence of ferdinand kieckhefer is housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection), who was known as the "tiffany of wrought iron masters." i never grow tired documenting the terra cotta atlantes - executed by the american terra cotta company - surrounding the portico. images and ornament courtesy of bld. 51 archive.