Lake Geneva in Barron’s (again)

I can’t say for sure if shedding my light on the demon Bigfoots of Michigan somehow swayed the fine folks at Barron’s last week, but I can’t say that it didn’t. Not for sure, anyway. It doesn’t matter, I suppose, whether it was me or someone else or just common sense that led Barron’s to their way of thinking, but it should come as no lasting surprise that when compiling their annual list of best places for a second home Michigan didn’t end up with a horse in this race. Neither did Indiana, or Minnesota, or Illinois, or Ohio, or Iowa, or Nebraska, or Missouri, or Tennessee, so it seems logical that any vacation home buyer in any of those states would gravitate to the only state in the larger Midwest with both a deficit trimming Governor and a city on Barron’s lofty list.

I’m talking about Wisconsin, and if it’s Wisconsin then it’s about Lake Geneva. Once again, Barron’s Best Places For A Second Home list has included this place. Our place. It’s the place where we know we want to be and the only place I want to be, but it’s also the place that factors on a national level. The people at Lake Okochobee in Iowa try to tell me how great their lake is. I don’t listen to them. Neither did Barron’s. Same goes for Door County, with their artsy this and their fish boiled that. No amount of bike riding Brewers fans have been able to sway the discerning minds at Barron’s. Lake Geneva is on the list and none of these other surrounding destinations are. We matter.

The brief snippet on Lake Geneva, which registered at #18 on the list- proof that Barron’s typically does save the best for last:

Lake Geneva has long been called the Newport of the West because 19th-century Chicago industrialists, such as the Wrigleys, Swifts and Montgomery Wards, built their 20-room “summer cottages” on the grassy shores of the crystal-blue lake that inspires the town’s name. The lakeside imperial lawns are still dotted with Tudor, Italianate and French chateau mansions of that era. Chicago investor Richard Driehaus’ annual summer soirees require so much temporary staff (one year it featured a circus theme replete with a baby elephant) that the money manager becomes the largest employer in town. The Grand Geneva Resort a few miles off the lake is the former Playboy Club where Hugh Hefner once retreated. Today, many prefer Chuck’s Lakeshore Inn, where you might bump into a CEO in boat shoes or an NBA star. Until recently, an Italian steakhouse in town bore the name of the Milwaukee Brewers’ star Ryan Braun; he has a house nearby and managed last year to be the National League’s Most Valuable Player and to overturn a suspension for alleged performance-enhancing drug use. Lake Geneva deal of the year: Michael Keefe, one of the area’s top real-estate agents, sold his own home for $5.9 million in 2011.

Thanks for the plug, Barron’s. But I must clean up a little of this verbiage and make it both accurate and self aggrandizing at the same time. First, I have never seen an NBA star at Lake Geneva, not at Chuck’s or otherwise. I have seen very tall athletic types at the Grand Geneva, and I did once see Harry Caray stumble from the door of Harpoon Willies to his car, and I did ask for his autograph then and he did give it to me, but I only had a receipt for some egg rolls that I had just bought at Doc’s so the signature faded and I lost the receipt anyway- faded or not. I do see many money managers, but I don’t see Ryan Braun. I only have one client that would care to see him anyway, and now that he didn’t renew his naming rights on his Lake Geneva restaurant, I don’t know as though I ever will. The article says he has a home around here, but searches of “Braun” reveal no one named Ryan. He’s probably smart enough to title a property in an LLC or something other than his real name, but he wasn’t smart enough to pass that steroid test last October, so who’s to say?

As to the Lake Geneva “deal of the year”, the sale, which was celebrated here on these digital pages, actually occurred in 2010, not 2011, and the sale price was $5.885MM, not $5.9MM. I should know, as it was my buyer who swooped in and picked that home as the site of his Lake Geneva legacy. But these are just details, and the larger story is just what it is: Lake Geneva is a heck of a destination. This article will now serve two purposes. It will increase the awareness of Lake Geneva as a world class destination, but if we must be frank with each other, we can agree that this is already the case. Broad public awareness of a fact hasn’t been this high since OJ’s glove didn’t fit. This recognition will also push some sideline buyers back into the court of play, and they will find some assurance in the kind words of the Barron’s editors.

But for buyers, this lofty award will have an adverse affect. Sellers read these sorts of things too. They read this and it bolsters their resolve. Just as buyers will find confidence from this so will they. Sellers are not so foolish as to think that price increases are on the near horizon, but a little positive momentum in a market can mean the difference between negotiating 15% off ask or just 10%. This matters, just like Lake Geneva, and if you’re a buyer, it matters to you too. For now, let’s bask in the national light that Barron’s has foisted upon us, and let’s enjoy the spotlight that we so effortlessly attract. To the entirety of Michigan, I wish you better luck next year.

The patio above is of my painfully impressive South Shore Club listing for $3.95MM.