| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
ABOUT 15 BUILDINGS ON THE GROUNDS OF THE ORIGINAL COMPLEX ALL BUILT BETWEEN 1901 AND THE 1920S OR 1930S. ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED COMPLEXES IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN.
Previously surveyed in 1995, re-surveyed in 2004: Survey of Historic Resorts: Vilas County, Prepared by Heritage Research, Ltd., 2004. The property is still intact however, it has since been condoed. The lodge plus three cabins are available for rental, while the remaining cabins are individually owned.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Northwoods of Wisconsin experienced an influx of sportsmen seeking the restorative effects of the natural environment. To accommodate this new demand, fishing and hunting lodges were established among the lakes of Vilas County. Charles Hazen served in this fledgling industry as a steward at the Twin Lake Fishing and Hunting Club.
In 1900, Hazen founded his own fishing camp of three cabins on a 53-acre plot. The next year, he erected the Long Lake Lodge. Over the next seven decades, his resort evolved from a rustic fishing camp into a picturesque, full-service, American-Plan resort that incorporated the main lodge, eleven cabins, and 300 acres. The evolving clientele soon included extended families who spent the summer here, in a tight-knit, communal atmosphere. Hazen vigorously promoted Vilas County as a winter recreation destination, as well, opening his lodge as early as 1924 for the winter season. By 1975, four generations of the Hazen family made it one of the oldest family-owned and -operated resorts in Wisconsin.
In 1978, like many American-Plan resorts, it was subdivided and the cabins were sold as individual lots. Purchased by new owners in 1993, the lodge reopened as the Hazen Inn, a bed-and-breakfast that accommodated mobile visitors. It retains the lodge and three original cabins.
Encompassing 10,000 square feet of rustic living space, the main lodge is constructed of local tamarack logs, which were prized for their straight growth and rot resistance. The original two-story side gabled portion has been joined on its open gabled ends with two front gabled additions, and shed dormers run the entire length of the roof. The lodge's spacious interior features exposed, peeled logs arranged vertically with a massive fieldstone fireplace in its main gathering room. A fifty-foot-long enclosed porch spans the entire lake side of the building. The intimate cabins are also rustic log constructions, with saddle-notched joints and steeply pitched side-gabled roofs. Their interior walls are partially cedar-lined, and each cabin has its own fieldstone fireplace.
In addition to its lodge and cabins, the Hazen Inn retains a landscape characteristic of the American-Plan resort, one that attempted to maintain a high degree of recreational and agricultural self-sufficiency. The resort's log barn stands at the entrance of Hazen Lane. Open green space includes an orchard, garden, tennis court, and wooden outbuildings. Past the row of cabins, a wooded slope leads down to the lakeside boat house and picnic pavilion. |
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