History: Which Lake Geneva buildings are gone, repurposed & still standing?

The Riviera, from Riviera Beach in Lake Geneva.

The Cobb House was the home of Timothy Christian Smith and later Robert Cobb. It was originally located on the north side of the 800 block of Main Street but was moved around the corner to its present location on the east side of the 200 block of Cook Street.

The Baker House.

Topsy Turvy Brewery.

A photo of the inside of Trostel’s, which appeared in the Regional News Nov. 19, 1964.

During the eight decades that I have had the good fortune to have been alive on this planet, the built environment in Lake Geneva has changed considerably.

Many structures that existed in the city during the 1940s and 1950s have disappeared. Other structures exist but have been repurposed, i.e. they no longer serve the same purpose that they once did. Quite a few structures have survived and today serve as icons of the past that illustrate what the city looked like eight decades ago.

Below are 22 structures that are gone, 16 structures that have been repurposed and 21 structures that have survived.

Structures that are gone:

The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Station which was on the north side of the 800 block of North Street.

The Harrison Rich house which was at the north end of Broad Street where Su Wing’s restaurant is today.

The Traver Hotel which was on the east side of the 300 block of Broad Street where a new office and condominium building is today.

The Geneva Hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which was on lower Broad Street just north of the lake’s outlet where the Geneva Towers is today.

The Surf Hotel which was on Wrigley Drive just to the west of today’s Popeye’s restaurant.

The Luzern Hotel which was on the west side of Seminary Park.

The Northwestern Hotel which was on the northwest corner of Broad and North streets where Bruno’s Liquor store is today.

Lazzaroni’s Bowling Alley which was in the basement of the Landmark Building at the southeast corner of Broad and Main streets.

The Oakwood Sanitorium which was on the north side of Catholic Hill where the Havenwood Apartments and Condos are today.

The Taggart Lumber Company which was east of Broad Street and south of North Street where the Town Bank is today.

The Y.M.C.A. which was at the southeast corner of Main Street and Wrigley Drive where @ Properties and Christie’s is today.

The old Lake Geneva High School which was where the Central-Denison School complex is today.

Cobb’s Hardware store which was where the Cornerstone store is today on the northwest corner of Broad and Main streets.

The Cheney Instruments Company, which displayed the world’s largest thermometer, was on the south side of the 800 block of Main Street.

The Charles Minton Baker house which was at the corner of Wrigley Drive and Baker Street where the Bella Vista Suites is today.

Ceylon Court which was on Geneva Lake just north of the Big Foot Beach State Park. Ceylon Court was originally one of the buildings at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

The Dairy Queen which was on the west side of Wells Street at the intersection of Wells and Townline Road where the Kwik Trip is today.

The Reverand C.A. Williams house/Victorian Lodging which was on the north side of the 1100 block of Main Street across the street from Library Park. A massive new house is on the site today.

The first Water Tower in Lake Geneva which was on the south side of Catholic Hill.

The first public library in Lake Geneva which had been built in 1859 as a house for Asa W. Farr, a Union Army soldier who was killed in cold blood by Quantrill’s Confederate guerillas in Baxter Springs, Kansas during the Civil War. Mary Delafield Sturges donated the Farr house to the city of Lake Geneva as a public library. It was the city’s public library until 1954 when the modern Lake Geneva Public Library designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s student James Dresser was built on the site of the first Lake Geneva Public Library.

The Habecker-Derrick Funeral Home which was on the west side of the 200 block of Center Street. A new office and business building is being constructed on the site where the Derrick Funeral Home had been.

Richard Soutar’s house which was on the north side of the 1000 block of Geneva Street. Soutar was the contractor who built many of the lake shore mansions of wealthy Chicagoans.

There are many buildings in Lake Geneva that no longer serve the same purpose that they once did.

The Third Ward School on the north side of the 700 block of Henry Street which was, beginning in the 1870s, Lake Geneva’s elementary school in the Crawford neighborhood which was then in the Third Ward — the village of Geneva had only three wards at the time. It was replaced by Eastview School during the early 1950s. Today it is the home of the Frank Kresen American Legion Post No. 24 and other civic organizations.

The Baptist Church at the northeast corner of Broad and Geneva streets was one of Lake Geneva’s Protestant churches for more than a half century. Today the former church building is the home of Topsy Turvy Brewery.

The Baker House on Wrigley Drive across the street from the lake just to the southeast of Flat Iron Park was originally the home of the daughter-in-law of first lawyer in Geneva, Charles Minton Baker. She was Emily Baker, the widow of Robert Baker, Charles Minton Baker’s son. The house later became the St. Moritz Hotel. Today the Baker House is a hotel and restaurant.

Trostel’s was once Lake Geneva’s largest manufacturing firm. Previously the Belvidere Pottery factory was located on what became the Trostel’s factory building. Trostel’s had moved from Milwaukee to Lake Geneva where it manufactured oil seals for automotive engines and employed hundreds of Lake Geneva residents. It operated three shifts 24 hours a day. Today Trostel’s building houses MAC’s Moving and Storage Company.

Hanny’s White House Restaurant was located on the northeast corner of Dodge and Broad streets. For years it was the most popular venue in Lake Geneva for morning coffee and gatherings after high school athletic games. Today it houses the Zaab Restaurant.

Montgomery Ward’s store was located on the south side of the 800 block of Main Street. Today the building where “Monkey” Ward’s once was houses a multitude of businesses including the Market of Lake Geneva.

The Wisconsin Power and Light Company’s office building was located on the northeast corner of Broad and Main streets. Today it houses Jayne’s women’s clothing store.

The First National Bank was located on the north side of the 700 block of Main Street. For years it was the bank in Lake Geneva. Today the First National Bank building houses Champs Sports Bar.

The Buick Automobile Dealership owned by Everett Boutelle was located on the south side of the 800 block of Main Street between Montgomery Ward’s and the Chaney Instrument Company. Today the building houses a variety of stores.

William Quinn’s house was located on the east side of Williams Street just south of Marshall Street. William Quinn was my great grandfather’s brother. Today the Dungeons and Dragons Museum is in the former William Quinn house.

The Hillmoor Golf Course opened in 1923. It was built on what had been the farm of my great grandfather’s brother, John Quinn. Today the land is owned by the city of Lake Geneva.

The Landmark Center on the southeast corner of Broad and Main street is one of two three-story buildings in the downtown business district. It was designed by the famous architect William Le Baron Jenney. It was constructed in 1873 as the Metropolitan Building. Over the years it housed a number of enterprises including the Hotel Clair and the Clair Lounge. Lazzaroni’s Bowling Alley was located in its basement. Today a number of businesses are in the building.

The Walker Block is Lake Geneva’s other three-story building in the downtown business district. Once known as the “Trinke building” it housed a women’s clothing store, a jewelry store, and, on its upper floors, several dentists’ offices. Today it houses a variety of businesses.

The Lake Geneva High School opened in 1929 on the north side of the 900 block of Wisconsin Street. It served as Lake Geneva’s High School from 1929 to 1958 when it was replaced by Badger High School. The High School’s auditorium was the venue for many athletic and cultural events.

The Korean Village was located on the east side of South Lake Shore Drive across the street from Otto Young’s mansion, Stone Manor. The Korean Village originally was Otto Young’s stables. Today the Korean Village is the site of condominiums.

Clark Habecker’s Home was located on the northwest corner of Center and Geneva streets. Today the Sabai Sabai restaurant is located in it.

The Lake Geneva Post Office at the southeast corner of Main and Center streets was opened in 1939. It was one of many post offices in the United States constructed during the 1930s in an effort to lessen the effects of the Great Depression. Prior to its construction the Lake Geneva Post Office had been located in the building on the southwest corner of Broad and Main streets that houses the Lake Aire restaurant today. The Lake Geneva Post Office is notable for the wonderful mural in its lobby painted by the Works Progress Administration artist George Adams Dietrich in 1940.

The Riviera is Lake Geneva’s most iconic building. Designed by the local architect James Roy Allen, the Riviera was constructed during the depths of the Great Depression with funds from a bond issue that the residents of Lake Geneva approved.

The Horticultural Hall was built in 1911 by the firm of Reinert and Malsch at for the Lake Geneva Gardeners’ and Foremen’s Association. It is another of Lake Geneva’s iconic buildings. John Notz’s superb history of the Horitcultural Hall should be published and made widely available.

The Dunn Lumber Company has served as Lake Geneva’s lumber company for more than a century. For many years Lake Geneva had two lumber companies, Dunn’s and Taggart’s, but only Dunn’s survived.

The Geneva Theater. Lake Geneva has been very fortunate to have had a movie theater for almost a century. The Geneva Theater on the west side of the 200 block of Broad Street has served residents of and visitors to Lake Geneva for 10 decades. It was built on the site of Centennial Hall which had been Lake Geneva’s cultural center from 1876 to the late 1920s.

Five of Geneva’s churches have also survived: the First Congregational United Church of Christ, the Methodist Church, the First Church of Christ Scientist, the Church of the Holy Communion Episcopal Church, and the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.

Lake Geneva’s elementary school, Central School at the northeast corner of Wisconsin and Cook streets has survived for 119 years.

The American Legion Canteen in Library Park overlooking Geneva Lake has been there since 1919.

The Lake Geneva Public Library, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s protégé James Dresser, has served residents of Lake Geneva since it opened on Dec. 12, 1954. In 2022, the interior of the library was extensively remodeled.

Otto Young’s home, Stone Manor, on South Lake Shore Drive overlooking Geneva Lake was built in 1900. It is the largest surviving mansion on the lake.

Lake Geneva’s Water Works located on the north side of Main Street just east of the lake’s outlet has provided residents of Lake Geneva with water for one hundred and thirty years.

Lake Geneva’s three oldest houses were built in the middle of the 19th Century. They are the Dr. Philip Maxwell’s Mansion (ca. 1856) at 421 Baker St., 324 Sage St. built for William Alexander, the cooper at the grist mill, then located where the Geneva Lake Museum is today, and the house at 915 Main St. across the street from the Lake Geneva Public Library. John E. Burton’s summer home on the north side of LaSalle Street has also survived.

Among post World War II surviving structures in Lake Geneva are the Wisconsin Telephone Company building on the north side of the 600 block of Main Street and two Lustron houses, one at 308 Maxwell Street and the other at 1005 Grant Street. A third Lustron house on the east side of Madison Street also survives but it is unrecognizable as a Lustron house because it’s exterior has been covered by siding.

Lake Geneva is indeed fortunate to count among it historic structures the above described survivors.

Patrick Quinn is a Lake Geneva native who is the University Archivist Emeritus at Northwestern University. Quinn can be reached by email at [email protected].

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