The History of the Lake House Inn

Pre-1830’s

The Lake House Inn property traces back over 180 years to 1835 when the land was purchased by Isaac Bronson of New York from the Federal Government, however the story of the land has much deeper roots as it served as part of the Native American Village of Tay-e-he-dah which generally was inhabited by the Winnebago Band of Natives.  Tay-e-he-dah was considered an abandoned ancient village by the government surveyors by the beginning of the Black Hawk War of 1834.  As many may know there are many existing and destroyed Native American Mounds located in the area.

The First Land Sale

On August 29th, 1835 Isaac Bronson of New York purchased the property from the Federal Government.  When the land was purchased, counties were not yet established in the Wisconsin Territory but the land was under the Milwaukee District.  Rock County was formed on December 7th, 1836 and the land was then added to the Milton Township where it remains to this date.

The Kinney Family - The First Non-Native American Inhabitants

On August 31st, 1839 Azor Kinney purchased all 119.55 acres for farming.  After a few years of ownership, Kinney built the original farmhouse in 1847 which remains a unique part of the Lake House building to this day.  Mr. Kinney planted an apple orchard on the hill overlooking Lake Koshkonong and grew crops on the remaining property.  In 1857 the main floor of the hotel building was built as a storage shed for farming purposes.  The building was built using local materials which are visible from both inside and outside the bar section of the building.   Kinney’s property became a popular location for picnickers, campers and boaters to rest and enjoy the lake, though without permission from Mr. Kinney eventually causing Kinney to sell the property to William Taylor.  Just five years after selling the property to Taylor, Mr. Kinney passed away due to a tragic accident with a grain train on July 21st, 1876 (Azor Kinney News Story about Death - Edgerton Independent 7/28/1876)

Becoming A Hotel - The Taylor House Era

William Taylor took over the property in 1870 with Robert Carr and continued to farm the property until 1871 when they added a second and third floor to the storage shed to be used as a hotel.  You can see the change in materials as the original stone first floor transitions into brick for the second and third floors of the building.  They also built an Observatory on top of the building which has since been removed but is visible in many of the old photographs and drawings of the building.  The property was initially called the Taylor House until 1874 when the name Koshkonong Hotel was adopted.  In 1876 Robert Carr took over the operation of the the hotel until its sale in 1899.  The earliest documented tragedy associated with the building was on June 12th, 1885 when a Mrs. S. J. Humphrey was lost in Lake Koshkonong when the boat she was on overturned with her niece and a friend, both who survived.  The boat was launched from Carr Point (as the Janesville Weekly Gazette called it).  The area visitors and residents searched for Mrs. Humphrey when weather conditions improved and a week later he body was found and brought to the hotel.

Big Upgrades and Big Tragedies - The Bliven Era

In 1899 William Taylor sold the property to Mr. Courtland Bliven of New York for $5,500 who ran it as a hotel for a while with his brother Peter Bliven of Edgerton.  Mr. C. Bliven undertook a large remodeling project in 1900.  As part of the improvements Bliven purchased two additional farms to make the land over 300 acres and made vast improvements to the hotel including a new roof, windows and doors as well as replastering all of the rooms.  Bliven also added a gas plant to the building to provide indoor hot and cold water.  Bliven also upgraded the horse stables on the property making the hotel one of the highest quality inns in the area. In 1900 Courtland made the news in the Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter when he overturned the remains of two humans, likely Native Americans.  On December 5th, 1908 tragedy struck the Bliven family.  According to the newspaper article four teenages between the ages of 13 and 15 drowned after falling through the ice on Lake Koshkonong including Violet Bliven, daughter of Courtland and Frannie Bliven, daughter of Peter.  As the story goes five teenagers were ice skating on the lake including Mable Brown, Harvey Richardson, Earl Cooper, Violet Bliven and Frannie Bliven.  Mable being the smallest was having a hard time keeping up with the other four and watched them fall through the ice.  Mable ran for help and was able to get the attention of Tone Brown who resided near the hotel.  The bodies were recovered a few hours later and taken to the Inn and the funerals were held at their respective homes except for Violet as she was buried in New York.  Courtland had a stroke on November 30th, 1912 and passed away on April 5th, 1913.

The Schmeling Era and the birth of the Maple Beach Subdivision

In 1922, Henry C. Schmeling purchased the property and leased the Inn out to Ollie “O.J” Shaul for a lease of 5 years.  Presumably after the lease ended the Inn closed to the public and the Schmeling family moved into the farmhouse in 1931.  Henry Schmeling began subdividing the 300 acres into the Maple Beach Subdivision in 1922 starting with just 65 lots.  The family ran the property as their private residence until 1934 when Henry’s son Carl opened a Tavern in what is now the dining room.  Carl named the Tavern the Maple Beach Inn and ran it under that name for the duration of the Schmeling ownership.  Henry passed away on May 28th, 1951 passing the property on to his family. The property was listed for sale in 1958 for $48,000 ($523,000 in 2024 dollars) and it was subsequently purchased by Wayne Hemmingway in 1960.  

The Modern Era

Under the ownership of Mr. Hemmingway, Robert W. Axcell and his family took over operations and expanded the offerings as well as renaming it to The Lake House Inn. In the mid-1980s, Stanley Midtbo of IKI Industries purchased the building and continued to lease the property to the Axcell Family.  The Axcell Family operated the Lake House Inn until 2016 when they ceased operations and moved on to a new venture.

Between 2016 and 2022 LVW Properties owned the property and began making some much-needed improvements with plans to reopen for business which they did.

On August 22nd, 2022 Lori McGowan purchased the property and continued to make improvements including upgrades to the kitchen to allow for the full menu you see today.  She also converted the old Kinney Farmhouse from a party room to a boutique and tasting room featuring unique alcohol and gifts offering a destination location in the subdivision.  In September of 2024 preparations began to redesign the boutique and tasting room and opened under a new boutique owner as Savanna and Pearl in November of 2024.  Upgrades and changes continue to improve the happenings at the Lake House Inn and we look forward to a bright future for the almost 200 year old property.