A Gilded Age Getaway: Our Boat Tour of Lake Geneva's Black Point Estate

This is my first travel post of our road trip from Wisconsin, to Indiana, to Ohio, back to Indiana, and then home again.  This will be a long series, as we did so many things!  Whenever we told people we were going to Ohio to vacation they laughed.  Sorry Ohio, but most people don't think of your state as a premier vacation spot.  Yet, they couldn't be more wrong.  We had so much fun in Ohio, and we were there during the worst week of weather too, but more on that to come.  For now, since we started our vacation in Wisconsin, we will begin there with Lake Geneva.

For someone who has never been to Lake Geneva before, it was ironic that we ended up going there three times in one year.  We visited in March for a romantic spring getaway, then again for Mother's Day, and now we were back in late summer to take a boat ride with some old friends from Milwaukee.

Lake Geneva is well known for its boat rides and they offer a variety of tours available on their website Lake Geneva Cruise Line.  This was our first boat on Lake Geneva, but our friends had been on two of their tours before.  We chose the Black Pointe Estate Tour because it included a tour of an old mansion in addition to seeing a portion of the lake.  Our friends have never been on this boat ride before but took the Full Lake Tour twice.

We were told multiple times how fortunate we were to ride on the boat Louise for she is quite the beauty.  She is a fully restored steam yacht built in 1902.

Here's a shot of the inside of Louise.  I love the old wooden floor.  There was a pretty bar area too that I didn't get a photo of. You could sit outside in the bow, but you could also sit inside in the back of the boat or on top.  We were fortunate enough to be first in line and got to sit in the first two benches in the bow so we had unobstructed views. 

Being in Lake Geneva in the summer is so different than being there in the spring.  The beach was filled with swimmers and there were so many boats in the water!

This is us with our lifetime friends.  My husband and Kirk met in high school and have been friends ever since.  They were each in each other's weddings.  It is rare to have friendships that lost so long.  They are truly a special couple and very dear to our hearts.  And they have been more "aunt and uncle" to our children than their real aunts and uncles.  We treasure them dearly.  Proverbs 18: 24 "...but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother" is so true of this relationship.

Do I look like I'm dressed for a boat ride?  😀 I picked a nautical looking outfit with a white skort and a blue and white top.

And off we go!  I loved sitting in the bow and not having to see the back of someone's head!

Lake Geneva has so much history which every boat tour narrates.  They know all about the history of the homes and point out the most interesting ones on the tour.   I was awestruck by the beauty and sheer size of these mansions.  And as always, I wonder "Why do they need all that space?".  Our narrator pointed out that the majority of these mansions are second homes.  Geez, I'd like to see how big the house is these rich people live in year round.

There are some "normal size" homes on Lake Geneva but even these would be way out of my price range.

It is rare to see older mansions on the lake because the millionaires who buy them tear them tear them down and build new mansions...so most of the mansions are brand new.  That is why touring the Black Pointe Estate is so special because it was donated by an heir to serve as a historic site...so no millionaire bought it to tear it down!  

As you can tell by the photos, there is not one specific style of the homes on Lake Geneva.  They range from Modern Farmhouse, Cape Cod, Tuscan Villa, to a Georgia Estate.

There were so many boaters out on the lake enjoying the beautiful day.  Most of them smiled and waved as we drove by.

 

45 minutes later we arrived at Black Pointe Estate.  You can't see the house from the lake but you can see the top of its Cupola.  There are over 100 steps from the pier to the house, so make sure you can climb that many steps before booking this tour as there is no other way into the house other than climbing stairs. 

The architecture of the home is stunning.  I am so grateful to the family who donated the home as so many of the old mansions on Lake Geneva are gone.  

The home was built in 1887 by the beer baron Seipp.  It is a 20 room Queen Anne style "cottage".  It has 13 bedrooms and only one bathroom.

The house sat on 27 acres with nearly 1/2 mile of Lake Geneva shoreline.

There are lovely gardens, but unfortunately when we were there they were ravaged by deer.

I did love their fountain and wished I could have one just like it for my own garden.

After arriving at the house, they have you sit down on their veranda as they count heads and tell you about the houses history.  The porch was incredible and wrapped around three sides, with one side being screened in.  

My friend Shannon and I sitting on the wicker chairs with hydrangea bloom and the lake behind us.

The view of Lake Geneva from the front porch.

The tour is fully guided and narrated.  The guide talks a lot, for a long time and way too much information/talking for me.  I almost took my grandchildren on this tour and I was grateful I didn't, because they could not have handled how long the tour guide spoke in each room.  However, if your someone that would like all that information, this tour would be perfect for you.  

The first room we entered was the downstairs hallway.  I was surprised how wide the hallways were in comparison to our modern homes.  A lot of wasted space in my opinion, but I suppose if they didn't have closets back then hallways would need to be wider.

This is the view of the downstairs hallway looking back at the front door.

The next room we entered was the music room.

Being the mother of two musicians, the music room was my favorite room in the house.  I loved the painted glass, the fireplace, and the chandelier.  

The piano is an authentic 1911 fully functioning Chickering Piano.  The tour guide asked if anyone in our group played piano, and my friend Shannon who also is an amazing singer and pianist said she did and happily sat down to play for us.

The next room was their living room which was formally a billiard room, which the mistress of the house switched because  she thought because the room had a side door and was closer to the lake, it  served better as a living room than a billiard room.  She could be right about the layout of the house, however I could tell right away it wasn't the original living room.  The space was somewhat awkward and there were old ceiling medallions that were oddly misplaced for a living room.

The dining room was stunning with its grand table, fireplace, and stained glass.  One of the most fascinating things about this mansion tour was that all of the furnishings were from the time period the family used the home.  They aren't reproductions, or antiques purchased to furnish the home.  I have taken a lot of mansion/old home tours in my life, and to see originals furniture is rare as most families take them or sell them when they move out.

The dining room had beautiful had stenciled drawings on the walls.

And here is the billard room, or the original living room.  Right away I noticed there was only one ceiling medallion instead of two  and the layout of the room is more appropriate for a living room.

On the screened in porch the tour guide pointed out the stained glass which subtly includes the faces of two of the family members in the base of the columns.  The "CS" is also the family monogram.

    

Although there are three levels to the house, the tour only takes you on two levels.  We were informed that the third level is a carbon copy of the second level and is currently used for storage.

The upstairs hallway was as wide as the downstairs hallway.  They didn't have closets back in that time period, so these wardrobes in the hallway were used to house clothes and linens.

The upstairs was so much lighter and brighter than the downstairs.   All the bedrooms were so pretty, and I could sleep happily in any of them!

All the bedrooms had great views of Lake Geneva, being so high above the trees!

We all had a good laugh reading about "The Little Room".  Apparently, this was the room the naughtiest of children had to sleep in.  Oh, those poor tortured souls.  Such punishment it must have been to sleep in a room such as this 😆.

The entire tour of the mansion is 90 minutes, plus you have a 45 minute boat ride to and from the mansion, so it is quite the long tour!

I hope you enjoyed my review of the boat ride and mansion tour, next week I'll be back with our next stop on our road trip:  Indiana Dunes National Park!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

See these posts for more information on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin:

How to Spend a Romantic Weekend in Lake Geneva in Spring

Our Mother's Day Weekend