History of Maple Park and 920 Geneva Street

Known as the House of Seven Gables, 920 Geneva Street was built in approximately 1873, just 8 years after the end of the civil war and two years after the Chicago Fire, for Mr. and Mrs. James Fiske.

Located within Maple Park, originally called Central Park, it was created and reserved for a public square in Thomas McKaig’s original plat of Lake Geneva in 1837. The town square tradition was brought to this area with the Yankee settlers. In the case of Maple Park, a residential neighborhood was developed around the reserved square.

The Wisconsin Historical Society and the National Register of Historic Places notes that the earliest houses in the district were constructed in the late 1840s and 1850s in the Greek Revival and Italianate style. At that time, the owners were middle and upper-middle class families who were Lake became a summer retreat for wealthy Chicago families and the Chicago Fire in 1871, accelerated the rate of growth, as well. As the wealthier families came to the area, the construction of larger, more elaborate homes was seen.

The earliest houses in the district date to the late 1840s and 1850s, but the bulk of the district was developed between 1870 and 1920. In particular, the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century saw the most development in the district. By that time, the neighborhood had taken on the status as being the most prestigious residential area in Lake Geneva.

The architectural significance is noted with the works of prominent architects. Local builder Charles O. LaSalle built several of the Queen Anne style houses, including his own residence in 1893. Charles LaSalle also built old Central School in 1904, designed by important school designers Van Ryn and de Gelleke of Milwaukee. A Prairie School-influenced addition to the Central School was added in 1928-29 and designed by the Chicago firm of J. C. Llewellyn & Co. In 1912, noted Chicago Prairie School architect Robert Spencer designed the Arts and Crafts style Horticultural Hall, which was built by important local builders Reinert, Malsch & Baumbach. A Lustron House, a rare example of a post-World War II attempt to provide mass-produced housing, was built around 1950. And, in 1954, James Dresser, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the Lake Geneva Library. 

From the pioneer era through the Chicago-influenced late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the modernism of the 1950s, the Maple Park Historic District is a treasure-trove of Wisconsin architecture.

920 Geneva Street - Excerpts from the National Historic Registry for Historic Places:

Built circa 1870 by James and Mrs. Fiske, 903 Geneva Street is one of Lake Geneva's most historically significant homes and the only known example of Eastlake style architecture in the city. Originally known as the "House of Seven Gables," the home has grown beautifully over the years and with the additions, it has gained a few more gables along the way.

The home is registered as Queen Anne in style, which refers to the architecture itself, with the asymmetrical facade, the varied and irregular rooflines, the distinctive tower, and the wonderful mix of textures across the exterior that give Victorian homes of this era their unmistakable character. Layered on top of that is the Eastlake influence, named for English designer Charles Eastlake, who championed a highly ornamental approach to woodwork that feels more like fine furniture than construction. Think intricate hand-carved and lathe-turned details, elaborate spindle work, and geometric patterns chiseled into the wood with exceptional craftsmanship. The two work beautifully together, and the result is something you really have to see in person. There is nothing else like it in Lake Geneva.

Mrs. Fiske was a piano teacher, and the home was thoughtfully designed with her passion in mind. The living room and parlor feature gorgeous curved eleven-foot ceilings, built specifically to enhance the acoustics for music. Mr. Fiske, a writer and scholar of American history, had a private study added to the rear of the home so he had a quiet place to work and think. A later owner added the beautiful circular porch and tower over the main entrance, giving the home even more of its distinctive character and charm.

Over the years the home has passed through the hands of many proud owners, each serving as a steward of its legacy and contributing their own chapter to its story. And through every one of those chapters, its soul has remained intact. The original hand-turned banisters and leaded glass are all still here, just as they were more than a century ago, along with what is believed to be the original stained glass windows. While the home has been thoughtfully updated over the years, it has never lost its original charm or the craftsmanship that makes it unlike anything else in Lake Geneva.

More than 150 years later, this one-of-a-kind piece of Lake Geneva history is ready for its next chapter.

References: "Victorian Home Finally has 'Children of its Own'" Lake Geneva Regional News 8-5-1976. A Walking Tour of Olde Lake Geneva Towne by the Lake Geneva Plaque and Walking Tour Commission, Spring 1993. A Walking Tour of Lake Geneva, WI, Lake Geneva Historic Preservation Commission, 2015; National Historic Registry for Historic Places.