The prosperity of the post–Civil War period in Milwaukee enabled successful merchants and professionals like Robert Patrick Fitzgerald to commission dignified Italianate houses. Fitzgerald made his fortune in maritime commerce, and his house is one of the best surviving examples in the city, with its narrow arched windows, ornate portico with double columns, and projecting pediment atop deep-bracketed eaves. The Milwaukee chapter of the American Association of University Women acquired the Fitzgerald House in 1963 and converted it into a clubhouse, adding a south wing to harmonize with the original structure.