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.