Endings

There is some question as to where the practice of providing those condemned to death a “last meal”. Some say it started with the Roman Gladiators. Others claim it began … Read more

Williams Bay Tornado

That was quite a storm last night, perhaps the worst one I’ve seen here. Some meaningful tree damage on the village lakefront in Williams Bay and around the lake, but … Read more

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, my 17th issue of Summer Homes For City People is finished. You should be able to find it around the lake this weekend, although the rainy day today is … Read more

George Williams College

By now you’ve read the articles in Crain’s and the Tribune, so I don’t need to tell you that Aurora University has found a buyer for their cherished George Williams … Read more

October

On Sunday I boated and maybe you did, too. It was that sort of Sunday. If you could boat, you did boat. One last ride, we all said. The skies … Read more

Oddities

A Lake Geneva summer begins in earnest on Memorial Day Weekend, or so the cultural norm would have you believe. Fire up your grills and don your trunks, when that … Read more

Work From Home

If no one had to work in a physical office with co-workers and a communal CLIFF BAR dispenser, then it made good sense that people might move to Whitefish, Montana. … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

Remember when I told you I was going to write about the things I’m thankful for? I was going to work on being grateful. I was going to really, really … Read more

Idle Hands

If I’ve accomplished nothing else in my life, I’ve certainly succeeded in identifying the many reasons people buy Lake Geneva vacation homes. I’ve rambled about gibberish, tried incredibly hard to … Read more

Hey Jealousy

I declared it to be the finest place I have ever visited. No, more than that. The finest property I have ever seen. The finest of everything at any time … Read more

Mr. Complacent

I’m complacent. I can feel it. I still turn over every rock and sweat out every deal, that part of me will never fade. It’ll kill me, but it won’t … Read more

These Days

I spend most of my time wondering how Jackson Browne could write this song when he was just 16 years old. I remember being 16 years old. I had a … Read more

Lake Geneva Real Estate Market Update

Lake Geneva Fireworks

If this blog was about my neighbors, and I was tasked with telling you when their firework celebrations were to occur, I would fail miserably. There are myriad reasons why … Read more

Ban

I think everyone knows how I feel about pontoon boats. In case you don’t know, I hate them. That’s not to say that I don’t understand them, it’s just that … Read more

Pier 290

I’m grateful for the dull things in life. For the way I feel when I go to the hardware store and buy two furnace filters and a small pack of … Read more

Lake Geneva For Sale

Gratitude

I’m not one of those people who have trouble saying thank you. I say it all of the time. I say it when someone refills my water at a restaurant, … Read more

The stunning pastels of a Lake Geneva spring

Finally

I feel better now. I was on the verge of breaking, but in true Midwest fashion I powered through the difficult days knowing that there were better days around the … Read more

Low Grade

What if some houses are actually terrible? What if certain houses were built by people who shouldn’t have been allowed to pick any tile, flooring, cabinets, light fixtures, paint colors, … Read more

Merry Christmas

It’s strikingly obvious to me that without my clients and friends, my family would not be so uniquely blessed. For that, I am exceedingly thankful and appreciative. There’s a lot … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

My wife and her family are Canadians. It’s not their fault, really, they just are, and they do the best that they can with this condition. During our Covid Chronicles, … Read more

The Romantic

Growing old is fascinating. There are things that matter and things that don’t, and when I was younger I assumed that when I was older I’d have a better understanding … Read more

California Dreaming

California has positioned itself as the cultural king of America, as every Midwestern kid knows. A weekend visit to judge its importance.

Calm

There’s something wrong with the way a summer day makes me feel. I’ve heard stories that some people tell, stories about lazy hazy days. The setting is always summer. Never … Read more

October

I don’t like September anymore. In fact, I don’t know why I ever did. October is where it’s at.

Fall At The Lake

Well, that’s that. Summer is dead and gone. My dreams of enjoying it are left mostly unfulfilled, and I know it’s my own fault. When you’re young and you’re taught … Read more

Freedom?

Covid was hard on Michigan. Tim Allen wants you to return to normal, while at Lake Geneva we never departed from it.

Regrets

Regrets are a part of life. Thankfully, Lake Geneva ownership isn’t one of the sources of regret. And for that, we can all be thankful.

Improvement City

The City of Lake Geneva is nice. But it could be a whole lot better. Step one in a multi-step plan to improve the city.

Mountain Towns

Ski Towns are more popular today than ever before, but will the new owners actually enjoy living full time in a vacation destination?

Force

Years ago, I wrote often about the need to carve out time and dedicate that time to the enjoyment of this place. It was the time of our lives, after … Read more

May

Corona is everywhere and no one should leave their homes. If you do, you might get it, which is to say we’re all going to get it, because without herd … Read more

Vacation Home Markets

In the good times, underlying market weakness is hard to see. During a crisis, there’s no hiding what makes most vacation home markets weaker than Lake Geneva.

Wednesday

I took a walk yesterday. The last time I took a walk in the middle of the day was so long ago that I cannot remember it. Of course there … Read more

Monday

Why do we even bother giving the days names? I read this in a tweet over the weekend and I thought it was funny. But then I also thought about … Read more

Reminisce

What an odd time to be alive. I’m glad to be alive during it, because the alternative seems worse. I think all of this social distancing and economy destroying is … Read more

Sail Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Lake Geneva Quarantine

I’ve been contemplating what, if anything, to write about the current state of things. Things, as a point of fact, are bad. Individually, I’m fine. I have a nice house … Read more

Lake Geneva Farms

My wife and children were to be out of town for a few days, and my job was simple. In the morning, let the chickens out and be sure they had food

Lake Geneva Videos

It’s gray again. The snow has melted, so we have that going for us, but the white has been replaced with the grays and browns of November, and

High End

What is it that makes a house appear high end? Is it the color palette? If we gray out a house in the most modern style, will that make it high end?

Lake Geneva Water

I see the world in black and white. I see it in wrong and right. I see the people who dwell in the gray and I wonder why. Packers fans see Bears

November

If I were the sort of person who was forced to spend sixth months in a more tax advantageous state, it would be a struggle for me. In order to find

Elevated

I spent last week in the south of France. It was a nice week, although it could be successfully argued that sitting at this desk watching the fall leav

Lake Geneva Lakefront Homes For Sale

The Test

Considering Lake Geneva for a vacation home but you’re unsure about the scene? Take my test and find out in just one day!

Lake Geneva Winter

This is the time of year when social media feeds are filled to the brim with mockery. Mockery of our place, of this place, of the cold. The snowbirds are … Read more

Lake Geneva Boat Slip

It’s that time of year again. The time of year when the piers are unceremoniously disassembled and stacked along our shorelines. That happened in October, sure, but this morning there … Read more

Lake Geneva Winter

I think it’s cute that the city of Lake Geneva is installing an ice rink this winter. The ice rink will complement the ice castles that are currently being built … Read more

Lake Geneva Ski Season

I write with disappointment today.  Today is opening day at Alpine Valley, the ski hill near Lake Geneva where my family spends considerable time during these coming winter months. Last … Read more

Lake Geneva Video

It’s been three years since I had my homepage video filmed. That was a terrific video, if I do say so myself. But this last week’s weather was so perfect … Read more

Emagine Theater

I’d like to become the sort of person who only spells theater theatre. I’d like to place emphasis on the A, while I’m at it. But I’m not sure I … Read more

Lake Geneva Real Estate Market Update

Summery

My calendar said spring turned to summer last week. The first day of summer, it said, capitalized with an exclamation point. The hardware stores had an ad in the paper, … Read more

Process

There’s a process to this whole thing.  This is something the buyers who wish to be here on these shores, but lack either the financial ability or the mental focus … Read more

Of Houses

I have a good friend who has found himself in the middle of a housing conundrum. It’s a geographic conundrum, really.  It might be a different sort of conundrum, but … Read more

The Hunt

I kill animals every year. Or at least one animal every year. It’s a right of passage, a tradition, something I do, annually.  I’m a killer, I suppose.  But I’m … Read more

Fall Rules

I have several different sets of rules pertaining to several different disciplines. My real estate rules are well known. Don’t buy a house on any lake that doesn’t start with … Read more

The Why

It was windy. It hadn’t rained yet, but the clouds had overtaken the moon and everyone knew the rain was near. It wasn’t warm anymore, not warm like the day … Read more

Sell The Lake Geneva Riviera

In a recent Lake Geneva Regional News article, City of Lake Geneva Alderman John Halverson, when discussing the state of the Lake Geneva Riviera and a desired multi-million dollar referendum … Read more

Summer’s End

The streets are quiet now. The excited conversations of summer are now just a murmur, fading like the green in all of these leaves. There was life back then, so … Read more

Summer Night

There is some thought, rampant among those who cannot yet know, that a night is a night is a night. The night it dark here, just like there, in fact … Read more

Fontana Fireworks

I admit I’m a lazy fireworks watcher. I know what happens. The fuse, the ssssssss, the explosion. I’ve watched them before. I know the weeping willow and the star ones. … Read more

Lake Geneva Musky

It wasn’t so long ago that I remember seeing a rainbow trout. It was swimming from my childhood pier to the next door pier, aloof, brilliant, without purpose or direction. … Read more

Vernacular

If we were in the deep south, it would be understood that there would be certain words we’d use at certain times. We’d drop the G on many words, like … Read more

Mushroom Time

When an acorn falls in the forest a squirrel eats it. The squirrels wait for the acorns, then the acorns drop from the trees, and then the squirrels eat the acorns. … Read more

Avant Bicycle and Cafe

Resort towns in the Midwest tend to follow the same pattern. A downtown, some shops. The outskirts of the downtown, some big box stores. In the downtown you’ll find some … Read more

Golf Lake Geneva

I haven’t cared about golf for a long time. To be honest, I never particularly cared about golf. I was on the golf team in high school, which, at first … Read more

Colors

By now, we all know that things haven’t been going our way. We started out with that winter, so intent on enjoying it and skiing it and sledding it, scraping … Read more

Peace

In the stillness of an anywhere field, there’s a stream that babbles and weaves and spills. The stream is loud.  There are birds both quiet and noisy, some fiddling about … Read more

Lake Geneva Construction

During times of relative boom, mistakes are made. Mistakes are made during times of relative bust as well, but those mistakes can be more easily forgiven because of the toxic … Read more