Discover the Best of Lake Geneva’s Amazing Waterfront Homes
Do you remember learning about the Chicago fire in grade school? The fire displaced a lot of people from their homes. That’s when wealthier city dwellers built homes around Lake Geneva, Wisconsin until Chicago was rebuilt. Rather than sell their waterfront homes, they kept them as second homes for vacations.
Two weeks ago hubby and I grabbed a weekend getaway to Fontana, which is on the west end of Lake Geneva about an hour from where we live. The first thing we did was rent a boat to enjoy the water before the crowds descended for Labor Day weekend. The houses on the lake are simply amazing and I’m showcasing some of them today, starting with this gorgeous Victorian beauty.
I can never resist a red-roofed farmhouse like this beauty with its big, wraparound porch, which appears to be screened in. It’d be hard to get any work done with a view like that facing the lake.
When you visit the towns surrounding the lake, you’ll notice a wide variety of architectural styles. But all of them are big with large porches, patios or decks. And most have a pier and boat launch. I would spend a good deal of time sitting on the pier if not out on the water in my boat.
Hubby thought this red brick mansion might be a hotel, but it’s just another one of the many amazing waterfront homes.
Some of the waterfront homes are newer, but it seems all have expansive or plentiful windows facing the lake. I like the tiered garden of this home. Note that long staircases lead from shoreline to home on most of these houses.
And then there are those that have an incline next to the staircase (on the left) so you have options for getting to and from your boat!
Each home on the lake has a numbered pier. This gorgeous green beauty has innumerable architectural details. I especially love the little porthole window above the main balcony.
Lake Geneva has a walking path all around the lake. You can see part of it in this photo near the shoreline. Each homeowner is responsible for their section of the path, so the path can change from yard to yard. Here it’s a humble gravel path. Elsewhere it’s a boardwalk, a flagstone or brick path, and so on.
Even the boathouses and garden sheds have a charm of their own. This one features an open-air second story, a decent-sized deck for boat watching, and a sailboat weathervane on the rooftop.
Most of the lawns surrounding Lake Geneva are well-manicured. And of course, the design of the homes incorporate walls of windows to take advantage of the amazing views.
A traditional white home with a double-decker porch has a splash deck out in the water for the kids to swim to and jump off of into the water.
All of these photos were taken from the boat we rented and I’m surprised they’re not blurry since the boat was moving while photographing.
The day started out cloudy but turned sunny. If you live near Lake Geneva but have never rented a boat, I highly recommend it. You’ll get to see portions of the lake you can’t experience from the walking path. It takes about 30 minutes to travel from the east end to the west end.
There’s more photos of waterfront homes that I took which I’ll share in a few days.
Wow! These homes are just gorgeous !
WOW! I wonder what these people do for a living…whatever it is I am not! LOL Stunning homes. Thanks for sharing your trip around the lake with us.
The last house looks perfectly tucked in to its surroundings. That is my favorite house.
These are very nice and the last is my favorite, especially the yard. Every time I see houses this size all I think of is how much work they are to maintain! It is very hard to find people for gardening and cleaning help these days. Speaking from experience. Still, they are all pretty.
They are beautiful, thanks for sharing.
LOVED THEM ALL! Thanks for sharing.
My memories of Lake Geneva couldn’t be further from these gorgeous homes. When we graduated from high school (1967 yikes), two friends and I decided to camp there and sleep in a tent. We couldn’t figure out how to put up the tent so we slept on the beach (certainly a different time) and all got good and sunburned. We were very cash strapped, couldn’t afford better accommodations but our 18 year old selves still had a great time!
WOW! Each home is stunning!
Lake Geneva is a beautiful place to go. Went up there a number of times and walked the path that was (it might still be) around the lake. The Grand Geneva is a beautiful hotel that I was lucky enough to stay for a family event.
Love the photos that you have taken.
Though not far for myself and my family we have not been in a number of years.
Thank you for reminding me that it is not far and perhaps a trip will be coming at some point.