MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) — While some hotels are being forced to close their doors amid the pandemic, Juli Kaufmann of Fix Development, Patrick R. Jones of Ramsey Jones Architects, and Andy Braatz of Braatz Building are breathing new life into a piece of Milwaukee's past.

In 1898, more than a 122 years ago, the mansion at 817-819 N Marshall Street was a double house for two families. Thirty-five years ago, the City of Milwaukee saved it as a historical site. 

This year, Kaufmann, Jones, and Braatz came together to transform this piece of Milwaukee’s history into a boutique hotel.

“It’s authentic to Milwaukee, that is for sure,” Braatz said. “The story and the history behind it and the iteration it went through to get to this point.”

Getting to this point took $600,000 to purchase and roughly $2.5 million to restore and develop the Dubbel Dutch Hotel, which has 17 rooms and three floors. 

 The expectation was to open in time for the Democratic National Convention, but then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. 

“We had the same bumps in the road that everyone else had, but we made it,” Braatz said. 

They didn’t just make it; They turned it into something truly authentic. 

“Guests can rent the house, rent part of the house, or just a room,” said Anne Koller, house manager of partnerships and events. “They have no front desk, everything you can do there on your own, but a house manager is on site to help if needed.”

“There are no plastic bottles, there are no one-use products. Everything we thought about was with local providers,” Koller said. “Our body products were made by Franciscan peacemakers, the art you see on the wall is all done by local artists.”

So, at a time some are closing their doors, the Dubbel Dutch Hotel has now opened theirs.

“There was nothing to do but just adapt and keep moving forward,” Braatz said.

For more information on the hotel, visit https://www.thedubbeldutch.com/.