Good things come to those who wait, it is said, and for fans of the architecture and history of the Old Soldiers Home in Milwaukee, that’s turning out to be true.

After the heralded results of the renovation and restoration of the striking Old Main and other buildings on the VA grounds – for use, as originally intended, by veterans – attention has turned to more of the complex’s 19th century architecture.

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We’ve already recently looked at the plans for two Henry C. Koch-designed buildings there – the Ward Theater and the chapel – but also getting some love in the latest phase is the 1867-8 Governor’s House (aka Governor’s Mansion).

That cream city brick building, across from Old Main and the Ward, was surely one of the longest continuously occupied homes in the city, serving as a residence for the governor (later called the director) of the soldiers home, from its establishment in 1867 until 2016.

As I’ve noted in those previous articles, the Milwaukee Soldiers Home (aka the Northwest Branch) opened in 1867 and it is a National Historic Landmark, one of just three original soldiers homes in the U.S., created by President Abraham Lincoln.

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The home – like the Ward and chapel – will be restored next as part of a partnership between The Alexander Company and the Center for Veterans Issues, who are leasing the buildings from the VA for 75 years.

The structures will be rehabbed to create community space and support services for veterans with partners including The Center for Veterans Issues, the Wisconsin Veterans Network, Journey to the Light Ministries and Feast of Crispian.

You can read more about the plan here.

Unlike most of the other buildings that have been rehabbed so far, these three buildings will not contain any housing, which is, admittedly, ironic since one of them – the mansion – was traditionally a residence.

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“The Center for Veterans Issues is going to have some of their offices in there,” says Jonathan Beck of the Madison-based The Alexander Company (which is also working on the new Domes Reimagined plan).

“A few other veterans services groups will also have offices, but it'll be a training center, a workforce program, and they're going to be providing some of the different type of VA grants that they do."

And Beck adds with a tantalizing hint that some exciting news is on the horizon, “it is possible that there might be some back office there for our operator that's going to be managing the theater and the chapel,” though he declines to elaborate for now.

“It was always a residence, but we think that the building just would really lay out nicely for offices and that there was a need to have the Center for Veterans Issues actually on the VA campus.”

At the moment, the Center’s offices are located on 34th and Wisconsin.

The house, along with Old Main, is one of the two oldest buildings (and is itself the oldest) on the VA Medical Center grounds, and it likely shares an architect with Old Main, which was designed by Edward Townsend Mix (whose work also includes the Mackie and Mitchell Buildings, along with the Milwaukee Club and the Wisconsin Club, all located Downtown.

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There are, however, no records that attribute the home to Mix, it seems.

“Based on other residential buildings designed by Mix in the 1860s, and the lack of mention of any other architect working on the Milwaukee site in the accounts of the Board of Managers, Mix was probably the architect for the Governor's House,” noted the 2005 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the site.

Though the home was changed later in the 19th century, the form documented, it “can be attributed to Edward Townsend Mix through a comparison with Mix's own house on Waverly Place in Milwaukee. The original form of the Governor's House was virtually identical to Mix's own house ... which had been built in 1866 (now demolished).”

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Mix’s house on Waverly and Juneau (since replaced with an apartment tower) was built only a year before the Governor’s House.

The registration form included a detailed description of the original design and the changes that followed...

“The Governor's House was originally built in a Victorian Italianate Villa style characterized by tall round-headed windows, shallow bays, and a tower element pushed in the junction of the two cross gables of the building mass. The tower roof was covered in polychromatic bands similar to the roof treatment on the Main Building. Between 1889 and 1916, the main roof of the house was raised, the bays were increased to two stories, and the tower roof was replaced with a conical element.”

“A 1881 view of the (governor’s) house indicates that it was originally built as a much smaller structure than it is today. The tower originally had a mansard roof covered with contrasting colored slate or shingles, as is seen on the Main Building.

“The style of the Governor's House is Victorian Italianate, characterized by a square tower, round-arch windows, simple massing with rectilinear bay projections, and broad overhanging eaves. Mix, known for adapting published designs to his own projects, could have based his plans for the Governor's House on the work of Alexander Jackson Downing's villa designs published in Downing's book Cottage Residences in 1850.

“A comparison of 1889 and 1916 photographs shows that the house had been rebuilt with the addition of a third floor and the replacement of the mansard with a conical tower roof.”

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At some point a large rectangular porch – enclosed and winterized – was added to the south side and the main entrance is through this space.

Inside the 12-room residence, there is a main staircase with a sturdy original walnut newel post and handrail and painted balusters with an array of living spaces on the main floor and bedrooms above.

There are hardwood floors, marble fireplace surrounds, crown moldings, some original window panes, stained glass and other features, though most of the rooms have been carpeted and wallpapered, and light fixtures replaced, in much more recent times.

The governor of the facility was its director and on May 1, 1867, Dr. Erastus B. Wolcott was appointed the first Commandant of the Northwestern Branch, National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, which at the time was located in the country house of John L. Mitchell.

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But Wolcott – who served as Wisconsin’s surgeon general for two decades and is immortalized in an imposing statue in Lake Park – did not serve long and most likely did not occupy the Governor’s House.

That’s because he was soon replaced by Col. Theodore Yates, whose wife Marion Jane was the Wolcott’s daughter. It is possible that Yates briefly occupied the house – he was governor into 1869, after all – but even that isn’t clear as he had his own cream city brick Gothic Revival house built on 27th and State in 1868. (That house survives at 2710 W. State St.)

Perhaps he had the State Street home constructed while living in the Soldiers’ Home house knowing that he would soon leave his governorship, to be replaced by the Deputy Governor, Maj. John Cassels, who served only into 1870, before being replaced by Lt. Col. John Wooley.

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s MThe longest-serving governor was Col. Cornelius Wheeler, who was the home’s leader from 1891 to 1914, so it one assumes he was the longest resident of the governor’s residence, too, followed by Col. Charles M. D. Pearsall, who was governor from 1923-42, and Mr. D. C. Firmin (1949-67).

By Firmin’s time, however, the title of the position was no longer governor. Beginning with his predecessor Maj. Paul G. Froemming, the title was switched to manager. But that was short-lived because while Firmin was appointed manager not long afterward he was dubbed center director, which is the title today.

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The last medical center director to occupy the Governor’s Mansion was Robert Beller, who lived there until his retirement in 2016. The house has been empty ever since.

But it has been cared for and as Beck points out, it is heated and there is running water.

“It's the building that needs the least amount of work because it's been held in pretty decent condition,” he says. “It's primarily just exterior improvement, cleaning up, tuckpointing, making sure that all the mechanicals and electrical is all done.

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“That porch needs a lot of work to be rebuilt. But again, that interior space is pretty good. So we’l be running in the technological improvements that are needed, upgrade the restroom facilities and we might put in a small elevator for access to some of the offices upstairs.”

Beck also points out that the lease from the Veterans Administration also includes a fairly large portion of land adjacent to the mansion and there are plans to use it for events.

“On weekends if there's wedding events or if there are events at the theater, there's really a nice space and we could tent that area. It's on its own little block, and there's a kitchen, so we could see some nice outdoor events potentially being held there.”

Beck says that they hope that work can begin on Sept. 1 – though some much-needed pre-winter stabilization work has already begun at the chapel, which is in considerably rougher condition – with a planned completion date 16 months later.

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“The theater and the chapel, those are the ones that are going to be really complicated,” Beck says, “but we were lucky to get a Save America Treasures grant from the National Park Service to help with the rehabilitation. It'll be all done at the same time.”

Though the current director of the Milwaukee VA Medical Center won’t get to live in the mansion built for his predecessors, he is excited about the upcoming work.

“Our partnership with The Alexander Company is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore three of Milwaukee’s treasured historic buildings back to their original grandeur,” said James McClain. “The Zablocki team is extremely appreciative of the community’s dedication in supporting our nation’s Veterans through efforts such as support for this enhanced use lease initiative.

“It is a great honor to care for America’s heroes on these hallowed grounds, the renovation of the Chapel, Ward Theater, and Governor’s Mansion only strengthens our dedication to excellence.”

For more on the effort to restore the Old Soldiers' Home, visit the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance's Save the Soldiers Home website.