Snug Harbor, Another of the Lost Mansions of Geneva Lake

Snug Harbor is the next stop on our tour of 19^th Century homes that graced the shores of Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

By the time of the Great Chicago Fire, George Sturges and his wife Mary had been summering in the

Antique postcard depicting Sung Harbor from my collection.

village of Lake Geneva (then known as Geneva) and staying with their large family in a simple rooming house on Main Street. The first thing they thought of after the fire destroyed their Chicago home and the bank George and his brothers owned, was to escape to Wisconsin. They crowded into the small frame house on Main Street with another displaced family. Eventually, George bought the house and its five adjoining lots. The other family moved on, but the Sturgeses stayed in the small house while George planned and constructed a large mansion in the style known as French Chateau. Construction was finally completed in 1881 and the large family moved in.

The lower level was constructed of thick rock, and a 5-story high tower provided a unique circular alcoves adjoining the parlor and master bedroom. To make the home's very large rooms seem not so big, the family purchased custom made extra large furniture.

Snug Harbor's Veranda

The home contained 20 main rooms in addition to enough bedrooms for their eight children. Mary Delafield Sturges and the children spent most of their time at the lake house while the city of Chicago continued to grow. The Sturgeses presented many gifts to the community of Lake Geneva and were highly respected. George sold the property in 1919, and it passed through several owners until in 1947, the estate was purchased by the Covenant Church and the grounds became known at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp. The mansion was used to house large church groups until fire claimed the beautiful old home in 1957. Today, the property is still known as Covenant Harbor and is used as a church camp and retreat center. In the past, I attended several singles ministry retreats in a modern building that sits on the main road leading into the grounds.

The small house in town continued in the family’s possession until Mary passed away and willed the structure and the large plot of land surrounding it to the town for use as a public library. She

Mary Delafield Sturges

stipulated that the land be used forever as a public library and public park. And a beautiful park remains there today. I’ve heard that Mary wanted to be sure that those people in town who couldn’t afford a lakeshore home would still be able to see the beautiful lake.

The small frame house was the town’s public library until 1953, when the old structure became unsafe for public use. It was abolished, and a beautiful prairie-style building with huge window walls that seem to bring the lake inside was built.

Mary’s legacy lives on through local resident, Chris Brook’s interpretive depiction of her. Chris dresses in the style of Mary’s times and entertains and educates with facts about Mary’s unique life—far too many to share here.

Next month I’ll bring you a snapshot of another of the many mansions of Geneva Lake.

Resource: Lake Geneva, Newport of the West; Ann Wolfmeyer and Mary Burns Gage

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, and Love Will Find a Way, contemporary romantic mysteries, and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 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.

Rehoboth - A Lakeshore Mansion With a Dog Trot

Last month, on our tour of the Geneva Lake, Wisconsin historical shoreline, we paid a visit to Snug Harbor, the beautiful Queen Anne home of George and Mary Delafield Sturges. This month, we move a short way down the shore path, to the north, to Rehoboth, the country home of Hubbard Carpenter and his wife Rosalie Sturges Carpenter.

After Snug Harbor was built and George and Mary had passed away, their daughter and son-in-law purchased some of Snug Harbor’s land and built their own magnificent country home and named it Rehoboth.

Unlike the other mansions on the lakeshore that were designed in a Mediterranean Revival style or Queen Anne Victorian like Snug Harbor, the large home was modeled after a Devonshire farmhouse, and even included the “dog trot” that was common to such homes. This feature in this style of home, which was designed by famed architect of the time, Howard Shaw, was an open passageway in the center of the home, The intention of the design was to allow for the farmer’s animals to move to and from the barnyard. Obviously, the Carpenters had no farm animals, so they enclosed the passageway with large windows at either end, that afforded a

Interior & Exterior Shots from House Beautiful Article

view of the lake, even from the back of the home that faced away from the water. The October 1909 issue of House Beautiful Magazine described the exterior of the home and how it blended so well into its surroundings saying, “one scarcely notes where nature ends and art begins.”

The public rooms were not completely divided into small boxy rooms, but were a forerunner of the open concept so popular today.

A story goes that one Christmas, some wrapping paper caught fire and the local volunteer fire department came to the rescue. At night it was difficult to see the glass windows in the “dog trot” and one of the firemen nearly directed the fire truck toward the passageway. Disaster was circumvented by one of the servants before even more damage would have been done to the home.

The home remained in the Carpenter family until 1954 when the estate was sold to J.  Rockefeller Prentice, grandson of J.D. Rockefeller. The home was abolished and a new home was built in its place that is still there today and remains in the Prentice family.

What historical mansions have you seen and or toured? How have they inspired you?

Sources:

Lake Geneva Newport of the West; Ann Wolfmeyer & Mary Burns Gage, 1976.

House Beautiful Magazine, November 1909, Vol 26-17, Google Books

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, and Love Will Find a Way, contemporary romantic mysteries, and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 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.

Fair Field, a Lake Geneva Mansion With a View Like None Other

by Pamela S. Meyers

We are back on our tour of the old mansions of Lake Geneva, WI.  All the homes we’ve visited so far on the tour were situated on the lakeshore. Today we are going to visit a home that was not directly on the lakeshore but built on a very high hill just northwest of the lake.

Fair Field was built at a time when nothing had been constructed on the land between the hilltop and the lake except for Main Street which cut through the property. The mansion was built by Buckingham Sturges, brother of George Sturges, whose home, Snug Harbor, I wrote about last October. Click here to read post. 

The 15-room mansion originally sat on a 20-acre plot, but by the time Buckingham passed away only six years later, the property line had extended to 65 acres.  His widow and their three children, who remained single all their lives, continued to live in the house until just before the last adult child died in 1955.

Location of the home in relation to the lake.

The home remained unchanged inside and out for many years.  A visitor to the home in 1935 called a grand piano he spotted as one of the most well-preserved specimens of an era long gone by. The widow told the man her uncle purchased the instrument in 1865 in St. Louis.

The Queen Anne styled home’s first floor was constructed of fieldstone, while the second the third floors were of wood. A broad central hall ran the length of the building. One of the daughters died in 1938, sparing her the heartbreak of seeing the entire home go up in flames two years later. It’s reported that neighbors and school children formed a line and passed along as many of the antiques and belongings that could be brought out away from the fire to safety, but no reference is made of the piano mentioned above.

Instead of rebuilding a second and third story, an attic and roof was added to the first floor which was saved thanks to the stone walls. The brother and sister lived in the one-story bungalow style home from then on untll 1955 when the last surviving child of Buckingham Sturges passed away.

Aerial view of the stone bungalow as it is today.

Today, that stone walled bungalow style home still exists on the high hill. Set back from the road and nestled among many trees, people hardly notice the unique design or even know its history. In the early1950s the large acreage was sold to a developer and the subdivision known as Sturwood (a combination of the Sturges name and reference to the large number of trees that grew on the hill) took shape.

As a child, I lived on the edge of the property and remember exploring and coming across the stone walled house. Little did I realize the history behind the home at the time. I just thought it was different and kind of cool.

I recently drove up the hill and found the stone bungalow and paused to reflect on what I know now about the house. In winter when the trees are bare of their leaves the view to the lake, a short distance away, is awesome. It’s easy to see why Buckingham wanted his home to be built on the hill where he had a view of the lake and the surrounding valley. Truly a view like none other.

Are there old homes where you live that have a unique story to tell?

Resource:
Lake Geneva, Newport of the West, Volume 1, Ann Wolfmeyer & Mary Burns Gage

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 rereleased 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! Publishing, 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.