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(Back to Wisconsin Index) Brumder Mansion - HauntedHouses.com Haunted Dwelling — Brumder Mansion ADDRESS3046 W. Wisconsin Avenue Join a Ghost Hunt of the Brumder Mansion LOCATIONBrumder Mansion Bed & Breakfast can be found on West Wisconsin Avenue, a main street that runs from downtown Milwaukee, past Marquette University, and runs parallel to the 94 hwy. Brumder Mansion is on the corner of North 31st and West Wisconsin, in the historic Concordia District, in a neighborhood of other old Victorians, some of which have been converted into apartments, while others remain as private homes or used for a commercial purpose, like a B&B. While the front door faces West Wisconsin, thus giving it an address on this street, the mansion also sits on North 31st Street. West Wisconsin Street originally was known as Grand Avenue, a street that was lined by huge, glorious Victorian mansions. Around the turn of the century, it was commonly believed that it was healthier to live away from Lake Michigan, so areas about 20 minutes from downtown Milwaukee became the places to build luxury mansions. Though many mansions have been torn down and replaced with apartments and commercial buildings, some grand buildings and Victorians, such as the Pabst Mansion still grace this neighborhood. DESCRIPTION AND HISTORYThis grand, 4 story, almost 8,000 square feet, 1910 red-brick Victorian / Gothic / English Arts and Crafts style mansion surely makes a glorious bed and breakfast, and is a venue choice for special events and concerts. Tom and I became acquainted with Brumder Mansion when we stayed here for a night during our 2007 road trip to Wisconsin, and fell under its spell. We wound up buying it in December of 2007, after Tom learned from the owner, Carol, that she was going to sell it. The house has been restored to its former glory, and the decorum and furnishings make one feel that one has traveled back in time, visiting an early 20th century well-to-do family. The first floor has all the rooms deemed necessary for a 1910 upper class family, including a parlor, living room, foyer, dining room, library, large kitchen, and the ballroom space, located in the basement instead of the 3rd floor, which is unusual for a Victorian mansion. The crown jewel in the dining room is the stunning, handcrafted stained glass, ceramic mosaic tiled fireplace, depicting flowers. It was designed by Neideken; an interior designer who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. Neideken was hired to do this mosaic for the Brumder family, when he was just starting out. The main massive Gothic oak staircase takes the visitor up to the second floor and landing, that has 3 bedrooms/suites, with private bathrooms; two with spa tubs. Another staircase found on the second floor leads up to what was the servants quarters/ work areas on the third floor that has 2 popular suites, 1 standard room, and the innkeeper's apartment. All bedrooms have a fireplace. There are a total of 6 guest bedrooms which are used for visitors to the Brumder Bed and Breakfast. Many of the suites have beautifully wood-carved fireplaces, marble in the bathrooms, lovely woodwork and antiques. The Gold Suite, located on the second floor, is named for its gold and yellow decor. The suite features a Victorian parlor set of furniture, an Arts and Crafts antique Queen-sized bed and dresser, simple, yet elegant draperies and a tall oak ornamental fireplace with fluted columns. We first stayed in one of the newer, lovely, third floor / side-attic room suite, The Gyneth, which has a whirlpool bath tub, trimmed in marble, a private bathroom, a fireplace along with some lovely furnishings and detail from the past; wooden floors, lovely wood paneling and some handsome antique style furniture. Because Mr Brumder had the foresight to place the Victorian ballroom area in the large basement, this feature has helped to make this building an attractive property throughout the years. It was never renovated into apartments, like other large Victorian homes were in this area. This ballroom basement area, which has its own outside entrance, has been put to good use for a variety of events. It has been a 1920s-30s party place/high roller gambling joint, a billiards / recreation room, a cafe with live music, and a licensed, 75 seat theater for dramatic and comedic productions, started by former owner, Carol Hirschi. Currently, the recently beautifully renovated ballroom theatre in the basement, with its newly revamped stage, lighting, de faux painted walls, and recreated 1920s/1930s bar, is now rented out /used for special events, parties, receptions, music concerts, and other small group activities. The ballroom area also has an excellent acoustics, and musical groups, interviews and paranormal events are being filmed for our web sites. Weddings of all sizes and receptions are held in this mansion as well. Whether a large wedding or a small one, or something in between, there is a space or area in the Brumder that can be used. HISTORYBusiness leader, George Brumder Sr., who made his fortune publishing German language newspapers, reading material and sheet music, built this lovely, stately mansion in 1910, for one of his sons, William or George Jr., but George Jr. and his wife Henrietta and their 11 children wound up living here. 9 of their 11 children survived. Mr Brumder Sr. died in May of 1910. The Brumder family enjoyed this lovely mansion for 10 years, before it was put on the real estate market, in the early 1920s, after Henrietta died. The Brumder family sold their mansion to a shady fellow, Sam Pick, his brother Ed, and their associates. Sam and Ed Pick were associated with one of the Chicago gangster organizations, probably Al Capone's gang. Sam came to Milwaukee with his brother, Ed to establish a nightclub business; to be a legal front for the illegal distribution of black market liquor, for illegal gambling, and perhaps prostitution. The ballroom basement was the perfect place to start such an endeavor, being a safe place to party hardy; trying it on a smaller scale. Sam expanded his speakeasy, moving it to an upscale building on Bluemound Road, just on the other side of the Milwaukee County line. Sam opened The Club Madrid, which became a popular hotspot. It was a fancy, nightclub that served fine food and offered a variety of musical talent, dancers and other unusual acts, on the first floor, as well as the black market booze. The gambling tables were kept somewhere in the building. The ballroom of the Brumder was still used as the spot for high rollers who liked high stakes gambling. Amenities like liquor and probably an in-house prostitute were offered to these gentlemen as well. We have a hunch that Ed Pick was in charge of the high rollers games at Brumder, but we don't know for sure; its just a theory. After the repeal of prohibition, Sam had some money issues, got behind on the mortgage payments and nearly lost The Club Madrid, but managed to beat that problem. In the mid-1930s, Sam also was forced to pay for music royalties for the songs the performers were singing on stage at the Club Madrid. At first he had refused, but when collectors started to remove the tables from the Club Madrid, he relented and paid what was owed. We think that it was during this time that he sold Brumder Mansion to raise some funds. Sam and /or Ed had the secret tunnel that ran into the basement sealed up with cement before doing so. Later in the 1930s his illegal gambling operation was discovered at the Club Madrid, and he and his brother were caught by law enforcement. If the high rollers gambling operation had still been taking place in the Brumder ballroom, Brumder mansion would've been mentioned in the newspaper archives at this time. Sam and Ed managed to find a judge that only fined them 1000 dollars, but gave them no jail time. Though the Milwaukee mobsters didn't take too kindly to his marketing plans, or his speakeasy/ gambling business, Sam had nine lives. He was shot and wounded in the late '30s,but survived that attempt on his life. However, when a stick of dynamite was thrown into his Club Madrid in the 1950s, Sam was inspired to retire to Michigan. We don't know what happened to Ed Pick. The next owners of Brumder Mansion were an English couple, who bought Brumder Mansion sometime in the mid-thirties. The upkeep on Victorian homes is high, so it is not surprising that the Brumder Mansion was again put to work to earn its keep; this time in a legal way. Luckily, The Brumder Mansion wasn't divided into apartments by the English couple, but instead was turned into a upscale, boarding house, for the employees of a nearby company. Big changes were in store for Brumder Mansion during the 1960s. It was bought by the neighboring Lutheran Church, only two doors down, to be used in the early years of ownership by the church as a parsonage and church activities. A psychedelic youth chapel was created on the 2nd floor, in what is now George's Suite. Other rooms were turned into offices, and the ballroom was put to good use in the downstairs ballroom. We learned from a source that the church for awhile also took in wayward youth in need of some guidance. The ballroom basement was transformed into a Christian coffee house, complete with live music for entertainment, called The Catacombs, part of the church's outreach program. In the later years of ownership, the church rented out the first /second floor rooms for office space/ meeting rooms. There was a radio station in the Gold Suite. More research is being done, and I will add to the story as I find out. By 1990s, the upkeep, let alone the repair work, needed for this 1910 mansion became more and more of a challenge for the Lutheran Church. The straw which broke the camels back was the complete break-down of the central heating system in the Brumder, that caused the pipes to burst. This now long in the tooth, fixer-upper opportunity with a bad roof and white walls, and a buckling floor in the ballroom, was put back into the real estate market once again, a white elephant badly in need of TLC and a boatload of money for many repairs. In 1997, Brumder Mansion was bought and rescued by Carol Hirschi, representing a different breed of homeowner, who is willing to move into an accordian-type economic neighborhood, with a variety of people living there, buying a type of home which takes a huge commitment of time, money, passion and perseverance, with the goal to rehabilitate the Victorian/Arts and Crafts mansion in question to its former glory; transforming an institutionalized building into a welcoming Victorian home. Since the 1980s, Other people have also moved into this neighborhood, thanks to the efforts of the non-profit group, West-end Development, who stabilized many of the old homes in the Concordia District. These stabilized homes were sold to people willing to fix them up, and live in them. To encourage this, the city of Milwaukee declared that the Concordia District as the bed and breakfast district. After replacing the central heating system, the old, leaky roof, and putting in new radiators and new plumbing, Carol began the pains-taking task of transforming and restoring the Brumder Mansion back into its pristine state of being; stripping off the signs of an institutionalized building, and restoring the oak woodwork and floors, etc.; something she still loves to do. To finance this courageous endeavor, Brumder Mansion became a Bed and Breakfast, opening in 1998, after she had transformed the rooms on the second floor. She had a lot of fun refurnishing the rooms with beautiful antiques, breathing new life into a place where the visitor is transformed into another era. To raise funds to pay for all that still had to be done, Carol who was an artist and actress, started a theatre group, known as the Cornerstone Theatre. The ballroom was turned into a playhouse theatre, and became a licensed 75 seat theatre, with a stage, risers, a sound booth, using the rooms in the basement as changing areas. She also had special events, such as her Dinner with Charles Dickens around Christmas, her Halloween House Attraction. Tom and I have always loved old Victorians and are thrilled to be the owners of this fabulous Victorian/Arts and Crafts mansion, since January of 2008. We have kept the improvements coming, contributing to the decor, floor rugs, antique furniture, energy efficient windows, roof repairs, wall air conditioning units, lighting, maintenance upkeep, and yard, determined to make the Brumder Mansion even better! Our biggest project was the renovation of the ballroom theatre, from a dark, playhouse theatre to a bright, pretty ballroom, with a new wooden stage, new plaster walls, redone wooden flooring, Faux-painted walls, new ceiling and lights, a renovated bathroom, and a 1920s bar, with a glass-mosaic top. It is a favorite place for concerts, events, receptions, seminars and dances! The acoustics are superb, and the view of the stage is clearly seen by all in the ballroom. The Brumder Mansion has a welcoming, friendly aura and atmosphere about it, that one feels immediately upon entering the foyer. Guests come here to relax and recharge their batteries, enjoying the atmosphere, the amenities and the great breakfasts offered by our terrific staff. Our unseen residents and visitors leave our guests alone, and act like good hosts and hostesses, as they seem to still have their good mid-western manners intact, despite being in spirit form. Other people and groups come to the Brumder to go to organized paranormal events/ investigations that are held here, led by experienced paranormal investigation groups. Because of the possible high level of activity, especially when a medium or psychic of two comes to an event, the use of seances and Ouija boards are not allowed, ever. The spiritpeople who live and visit here aren't on the payroll, and can choose not to communicate. When the spirits are treated with respect, and are inspired to play and communicate, EVPs are captured, and many investigators have had personal experiences. Recently, certain spirits have become less shy and have come out to play with investigators and groups of ghost hunters. HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONSRestoration of a building to its original state, in combination with the influx of antique furniture and items, which once belonged to other folks, often greatly increases paranormal activity. While the first known paranormal experiences in Brumder Mansion were reported publicly by Carol Hirschi, some of the spirits found here have had some connection to this mansion for many years, according to some well-respected mediums who have come to visit Brumder Mansion. Mediums who have examined the Brumder have told us that the spirits that reside here stay because they want to be here. The in-house, spirit residents have a connection with this 100 year old mansion. People who love the place they call home, or have an attachment to a property through ownership, may not quite trust the living to take care of the property, and may stick around to supervise, or try to help.
We have also been told by well-known psychics that some spirits just pass through on their way to somewhere else, attracted by the energy in the mansion, enjoying the aura and artwork. Perhaps some come through to check up on their antiques that now are in Brumder Mansion.
 The Gold Suite MANIFESTATIONSIn some investigations when paranormal investigators and psychics/mediums have been able to engage and draw out the spirits, new information about our unseen residents/perhaps some former employees of the Brumder has been brought to light, mostly captured in EVPs and personal experiences, making the reality of living with spirits much more comfortable. The spirits who live here and visit fortunately all have good mid-western manners, and leave our guests alone, though they make their presence known among the staff, owners, with paranormal investigators they can relate to, and sometimes with people who want to make contact with them. Nothing evil or negative inhabits the Brumder, just friendly and benign ones, who love the Brumder as much as we do! Entities of five-six known intelligent spirits seem to enjoy the restored Brumder Mansion. Spirit People in Residence: Older female Entity — (Known as Suzanne/Aunt Pussy). We are not sure who she is, though urban legend says that she was the maiden aunt of the Brumders who lived with them at some point, perhaps part-time. Newer theories think that perhaps she was a governess, head housekeeper and or perhaps a nurse/caretaker of Henrietta during her last years at the Brumder. Whoever she was, perhaps she came only during some seasons of the year, as there is no census record of her living there.
Middle-aged Female Entity Thought to be a 30-40 year-old female, who may have lived here during the early 1940s, according to a psychic. She likes the third floor bedrooms. A quiet, sensitive, happy/sad soul, who mostly enjoys sitting by the windows, looking out at the street below.
Male Entity — a supervising presence, who is currently pleased with the new owners. We think he is a former owner or manager of Brumder Mansion, and keeps an eye on what is happening here.
Newly identified entitiesThe Good Doctor Entity — Described by a witness who briefly saw him as being a man around 60 years old with a beard, wearing a duster, who goes all over the mansion, but likes the George Suite and the 3rd floor. There is always a fun-loving jokester in every crowd, and this spirit fits the bill.
Maintenance Man Entity — Said by a psychic to be of Scottish descent:
Female Entity — Thought to be around 20-28 years old:
STILL HAUNTED?A BIG YES INDEED IS IN ORDER. Besides the many personal experiences reported by the mansion's owners, staff, guests, investigators, psychics and mediums, many EVPs have been recorded, just about everywhere in the mansion, except the kitchen, laundry room, Blue Room and the library. Most investigations have brought to light some evidence of spirit people via EVPS, and personal experiences. While no EVPs have been recorded as yet from The Blue Room, personal experiences have been reported happening there as well. 2005SW Paranormal Investigation group were the first ones to capture EVPs, when Carol owned the mansion. They had personal experiences, especially in the ballroom theater. In the catacombs, they recorded a female voice, asking, "HAVE YOU SEEN GRANDMOTHER'S ROSARY? The 2nd EVP was of a male voice, saying, "SEE WHAT HE CAN DO", and then two bams from kicks of an unseen entity, banging on metal, probably the boiler. 2008We started inviting paranormal groups into Brumder Mansion for paranormal investigations, to see if more could be found out about the known resident spirit, Suzanne, and perhaps others. Appleton Paranormal came and did an investigation in November of 2008. While hard evidence was fleeting, the group did locate a male entity in the parlor and an older female entity in the Gold Suite, using dousing rods to communicate, though the rods moved slowly. Unfortunately, no hard evidence was gathered to correspond with the responses received through the dousing rods. They did capture on film a really bright orb in the Gold Suite. One investigator did see unexplained shadow movement in the basement, though it didn't get recorded by any of the equipment. 2009Feb of 2009 — The Infamous Belt Story: My own realization that it was a reality that we had spirits, happened one cold day in February 0f 2009. We stayed in the George Suite for a few weeks during the winter. I hung my belt up in the middle of closet. The next day, I looked and the belt was gone!!! A few days later, it reappeared, hanging right in the middle of the closet. We started again to invite paranormal groups into investigate as something was teasing the staff and myself, and we had to find out what we had here. March of 2009 — After their first walk-through visit, members of the Northern Alliance Of Paranormal Investigators sat with us in the parlor, tape recording what I was saying about the experiences that we have had at the Brumder.
The Northern Alliance Of Paranormal Investigators in fact hit pay dirt during their first investigation, bringing sensitive investigators that our entities warmed up to! They gathered at least 5 EVPs, and had personal experiences as well. Cheri commented in her report, "It is a very warm and welcoming building. A great place to have a brush with the paranormal in a friendly manner. It didn't take long for them to become curious and make themselves known." http://www.naparanormal.org/brumder.htm — EVPs recorded May of 2009 — 4 young women from S.W.I.G.S. came and spent the night at the Brumder. The spirits warmed up to them, and these 4 paranormal investigators were able to engage the entities and were able to not only capture some great EVPs, but also had some personal experiences as well, including being called by name. 2010As more people have been coming to investigate in 2010, activity in EVPs started to increase during the summer and fall. Experienced investigators, psychics/mediums have had results and the paranormal classes held at Brumder Mansion seemed to further stimulate paranormal experiences for most of the people participating. While the spirits have stopped teasing the staff, and still don't bother our B&B guests, they do communicate with people interested in them, in more stronger ways than before. They seem to be happier, finding an audience of folks who want to notice them. End of January of 2010 — Kenosha Paranormal Group came to investigate at the end of January 2010. Their photographer captured the light anomaly with the translucent face of the young woman, that is shown above. Another bright orb was caught on film in the Gold Suite, but most folks think that most orbs are either dust, bugs, or camera related. However, this room has had a history of a bright orb that none of the other rooms seem to have. August of 2010 — Paranormal classes and investigations, led by Joe Couto from Northern Alliance and medium Scotty Rorek, who is also part of their team;(both have shows on Z-talk radio.com), and paranormal investigator/film maker Rich Newman had personal experiences. Scotty became acquainted with most of the spirits listed above.
Experienced paranormal investigator, Dale Kaczmarek from Ghost Research Society in his preliminary investigation, captured some interesting EVPs in the ballroom, and on the third floor. He and his team plan to come back to Brumder Mansion for a full investigation soon. October of 2010 
SOURCESThe Skeptical Ghost Hunter — 2010-11-03.mp3 SW Paranormal EVPs11 Brumder WATCH HIM KICK 2 BANGS (2).wav |
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