The Breast Cancer Showhouse and Wild Ones garden tour are coming back in 2022

Joanne Kempinger Demski
·2 min read
The former UWM historic alumni house, at 3230 E. Kenwood Blvd., was built in the early 1920s. It will be the site of this year's Breast Cancer Showhouse.
The former UWM historic alumni house, at 3230 E. Kenwood Blvd., was built in the early 1920s. It will be the site of this year's Breast Cancer Showhouse.

Two popular tours will be returning to the Milwaukee area in summer.

The Breast Cancer Showhouse will be back after a two-year absence, and a Wild Ones gardening group will have a tour of naturally landscaped gardens — the first in about 15 years.

Breast Cancer Showhouse

This year's showhouse will be at the former UWM Alumni House, which is now owned by entrepreneur and philanthropist Andy Nunemaker, said Linda Short, spokeswoman for the Breast Cancer Showhouse.

The event, titled Showhouse for a Cure, will start June 3 with Raise a Glass to Hope, an opening gala that includes a tour of the house. The showhouse will be open from June 4 to June 19. Other events will be held in conjunction with the showhouse.

Proceeds from the showhouse will go toward prostate cancer and breast cancer research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The house, which is on the state Register of Historic Places, sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan just north of Lake Park and Lincoln Memorial Drive.

Nunemaker, who is restoring the building and returning it to a single-family home, has said it measures between 18,000 and just over 25,000 square feet, depending on which records you look at. It is considered to be one of the finest examples of Tudor architecture in the Midwest, he said.

The first floor alone includes a living room, dining room, breakfast room, sunroom, billiards room, kitchen, butler’s pantry, large entry hall, mudroom and a wide, elegant staircase.

For the showhouse, all three floors of the building will be designed by about 20 interior decorators who will donate their time for the event. Some portions of the home’s sunken garden also will be open for the tour.

Short said volunteers are still needed for the event. Information on volunteer opportunities can be found on the website, breastcancershowhouse.org. The website will have more information on the showhouse and related events closer to the date.

This room, with floor to ceiling windows, has a picturesque view of Lake Michigan. It's part of the former UWM Alumni House.
This room, with floor to ceiling windows, has a picturesque view of Lake Michigan. It's part of the former UWM Alumni House.

Wild Ones naturally landscaped gardens

Mariette Nowak, president of the Wild Ones Kettle Moraine Chapter, said the group will hold a tour of naturally landscaped gardens from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 9.

She said this is the chapter's first tour, and it's the first tour by a Wild Ones chapter in the Milwaukee area in about 15 years.

The tour, called “Walk on the Wild Side!” will feature four private gardens in the Eagle area, in the Southern Kettle Moraine.

For exact locations and ticket prices, see kmwildones.wixsite.com/kmwildones closer to the day of the tour.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Breast Cancer Showhouse, Wild Ones garden tour are coming back in 2022