Riverwest couple transformed unkept duplex inside and out with ponds, herbs and more

At Rachael and Tom Gonzalez’s home you’ll find chickens pecking away in the backyard, two ponds with goldfish, bees buzzing from flower to flower, and flowerbeds filled with medicinal, edible and native plants.

It sounds like the description of a sprawling home located far from the city, yet it’s located near the center of town on a small lot in the Riverwest neighborhood.

It’s a home the couple has transformed from an unkept space into one that’s loved and nurtured and where their talents and interests can be seen.

She is a massage therapist and owner of Familiar ( familiarmke.com ). He is an architect at Workshop Architects in Milwaukee ( workshoparchitects.com ).

Both have a love of nature and an interest in helping the environment.

They bought their home, a duplex built in 1913, in early 2021. They began making changes immediately, doing much of the work inside themselves and all of the work outside.

They kept the building's layout of two separate living spaces and two separate entrances but updated the spaces to use one unit for her work and the other as their living space.

“The first floor is used as my personal office and studio space, and there is a mini apartment where guests stay. When family comes to visit, it’s pretty great. I also keep herbs I grow there. It’s like an apothecary,” Rachael said.

She also holds workshops there including those on the art of broom making.

“We occupy the second floor and the attic. We opened up the attic space quite a bit. We vaulted the roof so we could have sleeping quarters up there, and we added skylights and a bathroom,” she said.

Outside, they created an outdoor living space in the backyard and added raised beds.

“The backyard patio, which measures about 15 feet in diameter, is made from reclaimed cobblestones we pulled up from Humboldt Street during the roadwork there. We hauled them all home in wheelbarrows and in my Jeep. It took us three months. Every day after work we were out there,” she said.

“When I saw the work being done there on my way to work one day, I emailed the project manager and asked if we could take them. They were going to crush them. He said as long as we didn’t get in the way of the construction, we could take them,” Tony added.

Their raised beds were made from honeylocust trees the city cut down.

“We got the wood from a carpenter in Riverwest who got the big trunks from the Forestry Department. He milled them into lumber for us, then we took them home and built the beds ourselves.

“We have two of them. One is about 25 feet by 5 feet, the other is about 5-foot square. They are 24- to 30-inches high,” he said.

They planted the beds, as well as in-ground flowerbeds, with a variety of edible and medicinal plants.

“I grow a lot of herbs, and I use them in my work. I teach classes about herbs and how to use them in infused vinegars. I also can a lot of the vegetables I grow in the summer season or I put them up in the freezer,” Rachael said.

In the back they also added a pond, and a chicken coop for their four chickens who also benefit from what is grown in the garden.

“We feed them the herbs and we also feed them a lot of our leftover foods and any weeds,” she said.

In the front yard there is a native pollinator way station, a second pond, and a sloped area that was terraced and planted with bright red roses along with other plants.

The couple recently talked about their home and garden. Their garden (but not their home) will be open on this year's Riverwest Secret Garden tour July 14.

Can you describe your ponds?

Tom : We built them ourselves. The front pond is made from a free-form plastic pond mold. We have goldfish in them and plants like lilies. The backyard pond we dug out and is free-form with a weed barrier. It’s lined with flagstone that we found on Craigslist. This year a raccoon has been trying to get to the plants, so we built a cage around it. It also has goldfish in it.

What are the best herbs to grow for good health?

Rachael: The simple ones that you can use in many foods every day. I’m really into accessibility. Sage, rosemary, thyme and dill are all good for your health.

Do you have any lawn?

Rachael : No. We’re not lawn people.

What kinds of chickens do you have?

Rachael : Two Salmon Faverolles, which are a French breed. They have little beaks and extra toes. Also a Black Australorp. It has shiny black feathers. The other one, we don’t know its breed. We got it from a farmer.

Do you get a lot of eggs from them?

Rachael : We definitely get more than what we use. Our chickens lay big, beautiful eggs.

Tell me about your chicken coop?

Rachael : We used to let them free-range, but they ruined the garden last year, so we made a little house and a run for them. Our yard is situated mostly under the shelter of a horse chestnut tree, so they are shaded by the tree.

What do you make your brooms out of?

Rachael : I make them out of broom corn. I don’t have the room to grow it here, so I buy it from someone. In my classes I make different sizes of brooms. I find that these days people want to learn how to make things with their hands.

You also grow mushrooms. What kinds?

Rachael : Pink and golden oysters and shiitakes.

Any artwork in your gardens?

Rachael : We have a Venus statue out front, and in the back we have the Greek God of Grains. His name is Demeter. Right now the chicken coop is black and we do have some artwork on it, but I want to add more. I would love to do rosemaling on the whole coop.

Any future outdoor projects?

Tom : We are trying to attract frogs and bats. We built the pond for the frogs and we were told that this will attract them. For the bats we planted moonflowers, which are now just taking. They open at night and are pollinated by the bats.

Rachael : The next project is making a bat house and also birdhouses.

What was the biggest hurdle in renovating your home and gardens?

Rachael : We did this during the pandemic, so it took twice as long and cost more than we expected. It was pretty much like having a second job. The previous owner did no work on the home or garden. The grass barely grew. It was a mud pit.

Tom : There were so many weeds and there were dog bones all over outside, and the dogs tore up the house.

Why did you choose to live in the Riverwest neighborhood?

Tom : We love the culture of the neighborhood. We love the garden tour they have every year, and it’s also very walkable. We can walk to the beach, the grocery store and our gyms.

Rachael : When we first moved here from Mexico City, we rented down the street. We didn’t notice the house was for sale right away but when we did a walk-through, it was clear that it would be a project. But that’s what we wanted.

How did you end up in Milwaukee?

Rachael : I’m from Connecticut and Tom is from Chicago and we met in Chicago, but he has family ties here. We lived in Mexico City when he was working there.

How large is your home?

Tom : It’s 3,200 square feet. It’s three stories and that includes the basement. I brew beer down there.

What changes did you make to your home's exterior?

Tom : We replaced the windows with all double-hung windows. We did make some of the windows on the front of the house larger.

We couldn’t find any photos of the original house, but we tried to restore the appearance of the outside to what we think it would have looked like. All the houses on our side of the block seem like they were built around the same time, maybe even by the same person. Many of them have front porches, but ours does not.

Rachael : Now the house looks more like a home than an apartment.

What are some of the unique features inside your home?

Tom : We left the ceiling open to show the joists in our unit. We put a big pot rack in the kitchen.

Rachael : We can easily hang things on the wood joists. We just pound a nail in the wood. We have baskets and snowshoes up there.

Tom : We also have a very big window in our bedroom that swings open and looks out over our backyard.

What work did you have contractors do?

Tom : Just the siding, roof and kitchen, and on the second and third levels, the structural work. I designed it. As soon as we bought it, I made a 3D model in my computer.

If you go

What: Riverwest Secret Garden Tour : A self-guided tour of 15 gardens in the Riverwest neighborhood to celebrate the 15th year for this event. Gardeners will be on hand to answer questions.

When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 14

Tickets: Tickets/maps are $5 the day of the tour at Garden Park at the corner of Locust and Bremen.

For more information: See RiverwestSecretGardenTour.com or call 414-562-9025.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Riverwest couple transformed unkept duplex inside and out with ponds, herbs and more