Property Record
519B S LAKE SHORE DRIVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ECHOES |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 66751 |
| Location (Address): | 519B S LAKE SHORE DRIVE |
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| County: | Walworth |
| City: | Fontana On Geneva Lake |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
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| Year Built: | 1896 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | HENRY LORD GAY |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | Description: The assymetrical facade of Henry Lord Gay's 1896 Queen Anne design for Echoes is dominated by the bulging, rounded corner on the full front veranda. A two story tower with a conical roof rises from the corner. Classic detail-round columns, dentils, Palladian window treatment, and garlands depict the influence of the Colonial Revival style, which gained favor after the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition. The two and one half storied, gambrel roofed clapboard and wood shingled house rests on a stone foundation, and is in excellent condition. Alterations to the original form include a later balustrade on the western half of the second story, and the enclosure of the first and second story porches. A porte-cochere remains on the west side of the house. While the estate's original outbuildings have been subdivided , Echoes remains on an ample, sloping site about 100 feet from Geneva Lake. The house is related to a Pavillion (WL 14/21), at 519C South Lake Shore Drive.. Architectural/Engineering Significance: Echoes is an excellent example of the work of architect Henry Lord Gay. The house reamins in fine condition. Historical Background: "Echoes" was built in 1895-1896 by George P. Braun, an early manufacturer of oleomargarine in America. Braun died in 1905, and the estate was sold to Amariah G. Cox in 1913. By that time Cox had become vice-president and treasurer of the Wrigley chewing gum company. Cox, who renamed the estate, "Pleasant Hill," owned the estate until his death in 1941. The estate was divided as the Brookwood subdivision in 1957, but the house remains intact. [A]. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Gage, Mary Burns and Ann Wolfmeyer, "Lake Geneva, Newport of the West," 1976, pp. 127-29. Walk, Talk and Gawk: A map and guide of the Lake Geneva shore path. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |