We enjoyed walking through this museum. Gorgeous interior and interesting design. There were also nice views of Lake Michigan. Your ticket for this museum also allows you to visit the Charles Allis Art Museum.

Perched atop a bluff with a view of Lake Michigan, you'd think our visit would have been ideal. This historic, Italian Renaissance style house, constructed in 1924 for the Lloyd R. Smith family, has been restored and is currently promoted as a Decorative Arts Museum. Unfortunately, there was no tour guide available so we wondered around on our own without the benefit of historical information. We were served afternoon Tea in the Great Hall, but had to wait as staff and service were lacking. Tea sandwiches and cakes were not identified so it was a guessing game. On the positive side, the gardens provided a reprieve from cosmopolitan city life and offered a serene place to sit and enjoy the view.

What a lovely Italian villa with gardens down the bluffWorth the visit and the walk through the gardens.It is a wonderful setting, and fun to imagine a family living here.

I am not sure what this place it trying to be. no real art. the mansion itself is no big deal. the gardens are OK. it does have a nice view of the lake. the woman at desk was helpful and pleasant. she gave us free passes to the Charles Allis museum nearby. That museum is worth a visit. there is a small display on ornamental iron.

The museum is inside a home built by David Adler for Lloyd and Agnes Smith. Agnes Smith wanted a home in the style of an Italian Renaissance villa. So visiting the Villa Terrace is like a piece of Italy in Milwaukee. And the home is beautiful. The grounds are even more beautiful. But the inside of the house doesn't have much furniture. The rooms of the house are used more as a gallery, so if you don't love the art in the rooms that day (we didn't), you can be in and out of the house quite quickly. The rooms didn't even have information about the rooms themselves. So, with the exception of one room we went in that had some information about the Smith family in it, we walked in a room, said: Huh. Weird Art. Pretty room and then left the room and walked into the next one and did the same. We visited on a Sunday over a holiday weekend, so a wedding was getting set up throughout the house as well. It was awkward to walk around the house and see bridesmaids getting ready or walk onto the terrace and see people waiting for the pictures to start. It felt very intrusive. The grounds are lovely, and we did enjoy our walk through the gardens. But ultimately, this is just a pretty house without much in it, and some very pretty Italian gardens. Not worth going out of your way for, even if the admission fee also allows you admission to the nearby Charles Allis Art Museum.