By Pamela S. Meyers
I’m back for another stop on our tour of the old mansions
that once graced the shoreline of Geneva Lake, the second largest fresh-water lake
in the state of Wisconsin (Green Lake being the first).
This month we’re going to stroll down the shore path past
several other properties to Tyrawley. This home has gone through several
metamorphoses—both in appearance and in name—over the years.
The original owner of the estate, John M. Smyth, was born on
the high seas during his parents’ crossing from Ireland in 1843. By the time he was 13, his father had already
passed away and he left school to start work in the composing room of the
Chicago Tribune. At the age of 23 he had managed to save enough money to start
a small furniture store, which was later destroyed by fire. Determined to not
let the loss get him down, he built a new building on the same spot as the
first. The store stood for many years and was well known to most Chicagoans.
In fact, many will remember the radio commercial that instructed people how to pronounce
his name. “Some call it Smith, but we call it Smyth" was the slogan. The ‘y’ in
the name was pronounced like a hard ‘i’.
Smyth was a well-liked man and was even encouraged to run
for mayor of Chicago on the Republican ticket, but he refused.
In 1892, the family visited the Lake Geneva area, and when
Smyth was offered 28 acres on the lake’s north shore, he snapped it up and
engaged a Chicago architect to design a California Mission style home. The
foundation was composed of native fieldstone, while the rest of the home was
constructed of wood, which was painted light grey with green trim.
The interior sported a large fireplace mantle of African
marble and white oak. It’s carved staircases were designed with broad landings,
and gold-plated hardware was installed throughout the first floor.
A large carriage house that included a living quarters for the coachman, matched the main house, as did all
the utility buildings. Like a lot of the estates on Geneva Lake, Tyrawley had it’s own yacht, The
Loreto, which was used to meet the family in Williams Bay when they came by
train from the city and, later, to ferry Mr. Smyth across the lake to the country
club for a game of golf.
Mr. Smyth died in 1909, and the family held the estate for
two years before it was sold. Thus began a series of owners, the first two in rather quick succession before W.H.
Alfords purchased the estate and changed its name to Stone Gates.
In the 1930s, during their radio hey-day, Amos and Andy broadcasted their show from the home’s front
porch through a hookup with a Chicago radio station. It’s been said that neighbors would come by boat to sit in the water in
front of the home and watch as they did their show.
Those broadcasts must have ended in 1937 because William H. Emery purchased the property at that time and
changed the name to Tarry On. The Emerys extensively changed the exterior of the home and it is difficult to see the original design at all by looking at the home
today.
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Tarry On as it appears today. |
As I was first preparing this post, until I read about the Emery family purchasing it, I didn’t realize this
home was what I’ve always known as Tarry On. I am an acquaintance of one of William Emery’s daughters, and another friend’s father was a caretaker for the estate next door to Tarry
On. All of the land had been part of Smyth's holdings when Tyrawley was built. It dawned on me that the building my friend’s family lived in for many
years is the old carriage house for Tyrawley. It was still painted light
gray and green the last time I saw it. When I recently told my friend what I had learned about the property and the home she grew up in, she said that horse stalls were attached to the large garage that opened at either end (from its carriage house days). Of course, the stalls have not been used for that purpose for many years, and I wasn't aware that they were there.
She said that a long while ago she told me some of what I'm reporting here now, but at my young age I wasn't that interested so it never stuck.
Have you learned historical facts about places you've known all your life but never cared about it's historical significance until many years later?
Resources:
Lake Geneva Newport of the West; Ann Wolfmeyer and Mary Burns Gage, 1976
See Shell Photography, www.lakegenevaestates.com for current picture of Tarry On
A native
of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago
with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, which has
recently been re-released on Amazon and her 1933 historical romance, Love
Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Love
is All We Need (the sequel to Thyme for Love) will release in 2016, and Second Chance Love from Bling!, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing
of the Carolinas, will release in January 2017. When she isn’t at her laptop
writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and
other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.
I learned a lot of things in History classes, but the teachers made it so boring, I forgot it all. I am just recently loving to read about History, especially California history.
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