About
The next chapter, not a departure.
The Building
A few lives already lived.
Before it was South Shore Cocktail Club, this building on Lake Drive had already lived a few lives. It started in 1911 as the Lakeview Inn, built by Frank Sztukowski. In 1920, it was rebuilt and reopened as the Sheridan Hotel, with a tavern called Palm Gardens on the ground floor. By 1968, it had been remodeled again and renamed the Fountain Blue. In 2007, Lee Barczak and Jane Schilz brought the name Sheridan’s back, gave the whole property a top-to-bottom renovation, and ran it as a boutique hotel and American bistro for the better part of two decades.
- 1911The Lakeview Inn, built by Frank Sztukowski.
- 1920Rebuilt as the Sheridan Hotel, with the Palm Gardens tavern on the ground floor.
- 1968Remodeled and renamed the Fountain Blue.
- 2007Reborn as Sheridan’s: boutique hotel and American bistro for the better part of two decades.
- 2026The next chapter: The South Shore Cocktail Club.
We’re the next chapter, not a departure from the last one. The bones were already right: two buildings around a courtyard, a kitchen, a bar, and rooms upstairs. So the plan was never to renovate the space and start over — it was to bring in a beverage program worth traveling for and a hospitality experience that allows guests to choose those authentic moments.
About Us
Brendan & Caitlin
When Brendan Cleary and Caitlin Kohlbeck — long time Milwaukee residents who’d spent years looking for the right place to build a resort-style bar and bed — walked through Sheridan’s, they knew the space was right to bring their cocktail and hospitality concept to life.
Brendan spent eleven years as bar manager at Great Lakes Distillery before taking this on — he’s building the cocktail program. Caitlin’s background is a mix that turns out to be exactly what a bar and bed needs: she worked for the Wisconsin DNR, ran her own Airbnb in Brewers Hill, and spent time occasionally bartending — running the hotel side along with those pesky administrative tasks.
South Shore is self-funded, and it’s growing the way a place like this should: room by room, season by season, with a continual reinvestment going straight back into what’s next. There’s no outside investor and we’re proudly becoming more ourselves over time.