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Property Location
Property Features
The original Osthoff was built in 1886 with accommodations for 120 guests (Laun 2002). Circa 1940, the hotel housed an art deco bar/restaurant called the "Funspot". In 1955 the resort was sold to Sulie and Pearl Harand, sisters who were both actresses living in Chicago, and their husbands Byron Friedman and Sam Gaffin. There they opened the Harand Camp of the Theatre Arts, specializing in "teaching drama, song interpretation and ballet." At the close of each camp season, a patch of fresh cement was poured in a walkway on the grounds and all the children left their handprints and etched their names. In 1989, Harand Camp moved to Beaver Dam and then in 2005 to Carthage College in Kenosha, where it still operates today.
The property and its buildings were sold to the Dairyland Investors Group who demolished the buildings and developed the current Osthoff Resort complex. A few of the handprinted cement slabs remain along the walkway to the lake.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
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284 S Lake ST
100005907
Located in Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan County
