Black Point is an estate on the south shore of

Geneva Lake Geneva Lake (Potawatomi: ''Kishwauketoe'' 'Clear Water') is a body of freshwater in Walworth County in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-La ...

in Linn, Wisconsin, United States, near the city of

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it was home to 8,277 people as of the 2020 census, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee and no ...

that was built in 1888 as a summer home by Conrad Seipp, a beer tycoon from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It has also been known as Conrad and Catherine Seipp Summer House and as Die Loreley

Style

The Queen Anne style mansion features a nautical-themed, four-story, "

crow's nest A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point. On ships, this position ensured the widest field of view for lookouts to spot approaching hazards, other ships, or land b ...

" observation tower, which can be seen from many points on the lake; the property also features post-civil war-era furniture.

History

It was designed by Adolph Cudell for Conrad Seipp, successful beer maker from Chicago and built in 1888. It was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1994. The state of Wisconsin owns the property and leases it to the Black Point Historic Preserve, a nonprofit organization which manages the property for public tours, which began in June 2007.

Museum

The estate and its grounds, including 620 feet of shoreline, are protected from future development by a conservation easement co-held by the Geneva Lake Conservancy, a local not-for-profit conservation organization, and the Preserve. In 2013, the site became a property of the state of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Historical Society. Great grandson of the original owner, William O. Petersen, donated the site in a process beginning in 1993 and was completed on September 26, 2005. The terms of its use as a museum were settled between the state and neighbors in Lake Geneva who feared tour buses filling the area. The museum is accessible by boat on Lake Geneva, which is how it was originally accessed, there having been no road access in 1888.

References

External links

Black Point Estate
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Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

*
Magnificent museum: Black Point opens as public treasure after long struggle, ''Journal Sentinel'', July 7, 2007
* {{Protected Areas of Wisconsin Historic house museums in Wisconsin Houses completed in 1888 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Museums in Walworth County, Wisconsin Protected areas of Walworth County, Wisconsin Queen Anne architecture in Wisconsin Houses in Walworth County, Wisconsin Wisconsin Historical Society National Register of Historic Places in Walworth County, Wisconsin