Revisiting Chateau Du Lac, Estate of the Day
I covered this one a year ago but since it has had a $4 million price reduction and there are new pictures I figured it was worth a second look. Chateau Du Lac is far and away the most lavish property in Ellison Bay, Wisconsin. In fact when it hit the market it instantly became the biggest and the most expensive home for sale in Wisconsin history.
The 35,000 square foot chateau is located on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Jaw-dropping features include the grand parlor, two story library, plush red art deco theatre, the indoor pool and spa with Jerusalem pavers and the 5,700 square foot, seven-room master suite. It comes furnished right down to autographed first edition books, and multiple sets of china, silver and crystal. The 100-acre estate also includes a guest house, a separate studio house, and a separate beach house with steps that lead to a sun pier on the shores of Lake Michigan. It is now listed at $25 million but that may still be an ambitious price unless there is the perfect buyer out there with a love of faux finishes and floral wallpaper.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Completely Disgusted May 20th 2009 1:27PM
Another prime example of how all the money in the world.... cannot buy you good taste... This is one of the most poorly decorated homes I have ever seen....
DJ May 20th 2009 3:18PM
Even at the "reduced" price of $25M, it's still 3 times the assessed value of $7.8M. And at the current value, the property taxes are $82,000 per year....at a fully assessed $25M, that would become $250,000 per year. http://pubinfo.co.door.wi.us/RERV10O/rer007?form=cassdtl&parcnbra=18&parcnbrb=660530A&parctype=R&parcyear=2009&encusr=C471DA12E27C49852CC0245D4D8B7834&session=167573329396844
Info listed above is public record and available on the Door County website.
Nelson May 20th 2009 4:18PM
OMG...there is so little to like about this house. If you have that kind of money to blow on this house, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you!
David May 20th 2009 5:30PM
Obviously an example of "more money than taste", however, it could be a fantastic home with some modifications. However, I can't imagine owning a home that large. The setting on Lake Michigan and the expanse of property may lure in the right buyer.
I suspect this home (and many others like it) will be bought by developers and turned into Country Clubs with the large home being the club portion after being modified. I see the market for huge (15,000 square feet +) dwindling as fewer and fewer people want to be associated with that type of lavish living.
renee Jun 6th 2009 2:10PM
I agree with everyone else this home is fabunot!
Dianne Jul 2nd 2009 6:15PM
The responses have been "interesting". Chateau du Lac is obviously a "kind of small hotel" for specific purposes: A conference location. Notice, I did not say,"one of a kind"; because there is another one in Wisconsiin, lovely in another way entirely,yet also like a small castle: thus, chateau, a tad Medieval, hunterly although not a lodge, quiet, contempletive, surrounded by one country (whereas Chateau du Lac is forested
I could tell immediately from the aerial shot that this is no small enterprise, which leads me to conclude that you have a sample of the rooms to view and this is not a home in the ordinary sense but home to a hotelier. What interests me is that comparing it to actual homes that were luxury houses in an earlier century, there is much more spaciousness to the rooms, the interior pool alerted me to that immediately because it resembles the convervatory enough to remind me of the home of Alfred I. du Pont, Nemours, between Hagley powder mills and Wilmington, Delaware. The exterior is frankly more like Winterthur, the home of Henry A. du Pont, collector of American antiquities, a hotelier with a Broadway location well known for entertainment provided by pianist Bobby Short, and the man who helped out Jackie Kennedy when it came time to refurbish the White House with something a little French but definitely American. This house at Ellison Bay definitely is in keeping with that style. Winterthur(in Delaware) also has a studio on the grounds for those who are interested in the study of Interior decoration and where you can pick up textile samples and plan your furnishings.
Ellison Bay is interesting in not only having a summer swimming season and naturally sailing and boating, but there are also ski resorts in Door County best known for Cherry orchards, and Apple orchards, wine made from both, tourism with a Scandinavian flavor, at this time of year there are Fish Boils. I used to make the nearly three hour trip up there daily in one of the 1960s summers for a week or so, and then back in late afternoon before sundown to Milwaukee for disco in a "Cellar". This has been happening probably ever since the turn of the century when Chicago had millionaires on the Southside Lakefront until the Crash. The air in northern Wisconsin was so much cooler. Of course those Chicagoans had their own "lodges" awaiting them. Which reminds me, time to go see Dillinger, that is,"Public Enemies" this weekend.
Ldsmith743 Jul 5th 2009 6:27AM
The library is a close copy of the library at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC which was built by William K. Vanderbilt at the turn of the century. It is still owned by the family and is a fabulous tourist attraction for Asheville.
SYLVIA Jul 8th 2009 12:02AM
Overwhelming. Hard to picture the actual place. The two beds in the large bedroom seemed awfully far apart. I would be interested in knowing something about the people who lived there, and also, their reason for moving (financial?) and their new residence.
Kaileo Jul 13th 2009 3:51AM
Incredibly distasteful. Stuck in the 80's. Who really wants all that floral except the much older generation? No disrespect to that age group, but really... this needs to become an exclusive hotel (with some smart RE-design).
D. Aug 13th 2009 9:54AM
I worked as an assistant the photographer who shot these photos and all the comments about the scale of this place are dead-on; it's simply too big for even a large family. There were four of us there that day including the groundskeeper, and you could go 45 minutes without seeing each other, even running back and forth carrying lights and equipment, we needed two-ways just to find each other. Yes it's a bit garish in some of the details but small web photos really don't do some of the more interesting details (like the hand-painted lattice work and carved tile of the breakfast room) justice. It's definitely not "modern" by any stretch of the imagination, as several here have noted- but there's really nothing "faux" about this place. In fact that's probably part of why the price is the way it is- there's just so much STUFF, literally millions of dollars worth of artwork, artifacts, furniture, etc inside this place.