Scott Patrick’s Blog

Scott Patrick’s FLASH Gallery 

Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz said there’s no place like home. My wife Noreena and I couldn’t agree more now that we are in our new home. I have been photographing weddings since 1983 and incorporated at Scott Patrick Photography since 1988, but since I began I had always been home based. I first operated out of my parents’ living room while in high school and college and later out of mine and Noreena’s condo in Milwaukee along with leased office space in Chicago. As much as I support home based businesses, my business had grown and our lives had changed to the point that we wanted a more defined, separate and larger business space.

Preserving the Past 

In 1999 after two years of searching in and around Milwaukee, we found what was to become our new home. As you will see, it wasn’t much to look at but it fit the criteria: It was a commercial space with separate business and living space; It was in an up and coming part of Milwaukee; It had ample space for my offices and gallery; It had room to add a garage; It was close to the Interstate and public transportation, and; I had a side yard for Noreena to garden and for the cats to explore. Still, most of our friends thought we were crazy but I grew up in a house that was in a constant state of home improvement and I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of This Old House, so we were ready for the challenge.

The first three years consisted of a lot of clean up, repairing the roof, creating a plan and finding financing. We were fortunate in that our neighborhood is a National Historic District (Walker’s Point) which made us eligible for federal tax credits on commercial properties. This did mean that we had to follow strict restoration procedures but this fit our interest in historic preservation and our interest in saving part of Milwaukee’s historic fabric, the way it was, for future generations to enjoy. With our plans finalized and approved, major renovations and the new addition of our coach house garage began in the fall of 2002. We moved in upstairs in June of 2003 and I held my grand opening of the gallery in June of 2004. We owe a lot to our family and friends who all pitched in to help. I still call our project a modern barn raising as everyone from the local and federal agencies, to friends, family and tradesmen all came together to help us create our new home – we can never say thank you enough.

The commercial space consists of two offices, a front gallery, a back gallery and a breeze way that connects the space to the garage, yard and wheel chair ramp. The front gallery is where I display most of my work. In the back gallery I meet with clients and can review their wedding images on a large screen TV. I have two offices, my own and a shared office for Noreena and my staff. We do rent out our space to other artists and for social functions, and when we do the breeze way makes for a wonderful space for cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres to be served.

Upstairs we have an open living plan with master bedroom and bathroom. We have a deck off the back that gives us some added outdoor space to enjoy and connects to our coach house apartment. The apartment was completed in 2006 and provides some added income.

 The Families Before Us

The building has an interesting history. It was built in 1875 by German (Prussian) immigrants. The father, Carl Glaus, was in the feed business and actually built his home in what is now our side yard in 1868. After he constructed our building, he and his wife Maria continued to live in their house while he ran the business from the first floor storefront.

Their daughter, Wilhelmina, married Ernst Klingbeil in 1874 and the moved upstairs from the storefront where Noreena and I now live. Carl and Maria died in 1899 and 1902 respectively and by that time, Wilhelmina and Ernst had three children, one of which was a son, Arthur. Ernst and Arthur tried to run several different businesses out of the first floor through the 1910’s. By 1920, however, the family had turned the building into rental property and the storefront became a typical corner grocery store and stayed that way until the late 1960’s.

Even though the family had moved on to other locations, the property stayed in the family’s name until 1947 when Clarence Osten bought the property, operated the grocery store, lived upstairs and rented out the old Glaus house and small factory building located where our garage now stands. For awhile there was even a small storefront build attached to the front of the original house which served as a barber shop from 1902 to 1945.

In the 1960’s urban flight was taking people out of the city and Interstate 94 cut through the Walker’s Point neighborhood changing this once vibrant part of the city. The Ostens sold the property in 1978 and while attempts were made to fix up the building by subsequent owners, the property never really made it and was foreclosed on by the city. We then picked it up for back taxes and the rest is history – at least our history.