The Commandant's House at the Veterans Home in King. June 4, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
KING, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The historic Commandant’s House at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King is getting a facelift.
The home was built in 1888 to house the commander of the veterans home.
“We’ve signed a memorandum of understanding with the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Waupaca Historical Society is now in charge of the preservation, the public access and the interpretation of the Commandant’s House,” said Waupaca Historical Society Director Tracy Behrendt.
The residence has seen better days. Work was already done to restore the ground floor, with the upper and lower floors set to open as restoration continues.
Behrendt said the house was designed by famous local architect William Waters. It is one of the last remaining icons of the original veterans home.
“The Commandant’s House itself really tells the story of the early veterans home that we don’t really see around the campus anymore, so it’s really important to us to preserve that,” she said.
The Veterans Home at King still serves the community. Activities Director Nicholas Peskie said this preservation will help share the history with its residents.
“For a lot of them, they don’t know that this exists,” he explained. “So, this is going to be an awesome opportunity to let them know that this is one of the original buildings at King and this is how King started, and this is why they have a place from the people that originally thought of King.”
The Waupaca Historical Society’s first order of business is to restore the exterior of the house. As soon as next week, it will begin welcoming visitors to explore the history of the space.
Each of the five hour-long open houses will be held after the Waupaca Chain Skiers shows over the summer.
“We are excited to first get people in here, just to see it and get excited about what can come,” Behrendt said. “We’ve already had a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails about things to put in the building. We’ve been in contact with a couple families of commandants in the past.”
The home will soon be a tribute to the history of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King for another 100 years.
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