Discover the Allis: Docent Tours

Explore the historic Allis mansion and the extensive permanent art collection, guided by skilled docents. Docent Tours are included with museum admission!

Tours will run every Saturday at 12:30 and 2:00 PM.

Sarah and Charles Allis decided in 1908 to commission a residence on Royall Place and Prospect Avenue — in the heart of Milwaukee’s “Gold Coast” — to house what had become a world-class art collection. The house that architect Alexander Eschweiler built for Sarah and Charles is strongly influenced by the English Tudor style, with symmetrical bay windows and a steeply pitched English slate roof. Construction began in 1909 and was completed in 1911. The mansion was constructed with poured concrete, with the intent of fireproofing the residence and its art collection. The outside walls are surfaced with mauve-brown Ohio brick trimmed with Lake Superior sandstone. The former coach house was located to the west, fronted with a semicircular drive and enclosed by a brick wall and a wrought-iron fence with gates designed by another Milwaukeean, Cyril Colnik.