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provided by Wendy Murphy, Editor and Real Estate Broker with d'aprile properties.

Crafted Americana at The Ridge Hotel

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Craft beers and bourbons, custom-infused vodkas and eclectic wines pour at Lake Geneva’s cocktail capital!

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In The News

Home For Sale: Reflections at Black Point

Iconic Lakefront Contemporary Home For Sale Rare West Facing Views Provide Breathtaking Sunsets By Wendy Murphy, Real Estate Broker with d'aprile properties A stunning Geneva Lakefront home has hit the market and listed for $5,450,000. Reflections at Black Point has 7 bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms and is perfectly positioned on the western shores of Black Point on Geneva Lake. It has been featured in Glenn Hettinger’s Distinctive Homes of America, Vol. 4 Lake Geneva and referred to as the “Contemporary White Jewel.” The architect, Edward Raap of Chicago, designed the home with reflections in mind, by creating an elongated swimming pool that stretches from beneath the home and extends out to the edge of a large drop off overlooking the lake. It serves as both a lap pool and reflecting pond for the home. The view itself, is one of the reasons that this home so special. While the majority of the homes are positioned on the north or south shores of Geneva Lake with beautiful views spanning across the lake to the other side, Reflections faces west from the middle of the lake and has long views stretching toward the wide shoreline of Fontana and also into the mouth of Williams Bay. It is remarkable. This rare and highly desirable west view also provides dramatic sunsets that reflect beautifly on the lake. The home is situated on the area referred to as Black Point and is historic in nature. Conrad Seipp, a beer baron from Chicago, purchased the land in 1888 and built a summer home to the east of Reflections which they referred to as the Black Point Estate. Conrad’s wife, Catharina oversaw the estate’s grounds and planted deciduous and evergreen trees comprising of over 70 varieties throughout the estate, many of which are still standing tall on the grounds of Reflections. At some point between 1939 and 1962, the property was subdivided, eventually making way for Reflections to be built in 1995. Today, Seipp’s Black Point Estate and Gardens has been preserved and serves as a historical museum run by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Visitors arrive by boat, just as the Seipp family did in their era. The estate and its grounds are protected from future development by a conservation easement co-held by the Geneva Lake Conservancy, which provides an abundance of preserved nature and privacy for Reflections. Reflections at Black Point offers 8,800 square feet of living space on four levels with an open floor plan and expansive lake views that can be enjoyed from every room. As we spend more time at home, the space that Reflections provides is invaluable. Great thought went into the designing of Reflections and you will find the layout is functional and flows beautifully throughout the four levels. Working from home couldn’t be more convenient with a large and comfortable office serving both fast internet and a lake view. The first floor offers a beautiful living room opening to the dining room with a sitting area, all with incredible lake views. The kitchen leads to an outdoor grilling area looking out towards the lake and gazing down over the pool. The two upper levels boast seven bedrooms, with one currently serving as an office and a gorgeous loft area with two story windows looking out to the woods to the east and the lake to the west. The master bedroom suite has access to a sensational rooftop deck that is perfect for coffee in the morning and is large enough for afternoon yoga. The walk out lower level features a family room and game room with a wet bar, which both lead out to the oversized sun deck overlooking the lake and pool. The lakeside pool is three feet at the shallow end and five feet at its deepest and has benches that extend across the entire length on both sides. It’s the ideal place to cool off on a hot summer day. With the hot tub, fitness studio, sauna and steam room, Reflections is dedicated to mind and body. At the end of the pool sits the Sunset Terrace, which is the highlight of the home. It’s the homeowners favorite place to be and I’m sure it will be yours, as well. With stunning views surrounding you and rooftop for shade, you’ll enjoy watching kids in the pool, while also taking in the expansive lake views and sunsets. There is a 135 foot boardwalk along the shoreline that leads to a 100 foot pier and there is an oversized sitting area that has been grandfathered, so you’ll enjoy this extra space over the water for years to come. Two covered and lifted boat slips that hold 30 foot boats, 6000 lb. and 8000 lb., are included, as well. You’ll also find a 4-car heated garage as well as a walk-in vault. Within the last five years, both furnaces, water heaters, pool heater and pool cover have been replaced. This is an exceptional home with incredible volume and scale and offers views that can’t be beat. CLICK HERE for the complete photo gallery and more details. For a list of all the events happeing in the Lake Geneva today, click here.

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In the News: Lake Geneva’s Shade Tree Recording Studio

World Class Lake Geneva Recording Studio Serves as Engineering Office Today Lake Geneva was at the top of the music scene for over a decade and the state-of-the-art recording studio that was housed in the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, brought world class talent to our town. The Best of Lake Geneva visited the site of the former Shade Tree Recording Studio, which is now an engineering office, and was shocked to see that relics from the early days can still be seen. This highly respected studio made a big impact on the industry and pieces of its past are still used in music today. We pieced together the story with the help of the book “Grand Tale: History of the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa," SpringStation, as well as a forum for Mixing/Mastering Engineers where many shared their memories of the studio. It all began in 1978, when a local musician, Andy Waterman, presented the idea to the Playboy Executives, including Christie Hefner, Hugh’s daughter, who owned the hotel at that time. He felt that since top artists frequently performed at the resort and with the hotel being a host to many performers from the nearby Alpine Valley Music Theater, there was a need for a recording studio in the area. Playboy reacted quickly and, within a few weeks, Shade Tree Recording Studio was up and running. With it's tongue and groove ash paneling and Italian marble, according to String Station, it was esthetically pleasing to both the eyes and ears. The studio measured 35x24 and a 21 x 20 control room. It didn’t take long before top recording artists, including John Cougar Mellencamp, signed on. After a few years, the economy took a turn, record labels began to slash budgets and the studio began to suffer financially. After Playboy sold the resort to The Americana, in 1981, the studio, although still intact, sat dormant until 1985, when it became the Sound Summit run by the late Phil Bonanno. After some of his California investors pulled their money, Bonanno aligned with diamond importer, Ron Fajerstein, who renamed the studio Royal Recorders. Fajerstein is said to be the longest and most heavily invested owner. With an infusion of over $500,000 in high end equipment, including a Neve 8-68 Console (supposedly the same one used by John Lennon to record Double Fantasy), the studio became world class. Bands including Survivor, T’Pau, Cheap Trick, Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi, Adrian Belew, Robert Plant of Led Zeplin, Enuff Z’Nuff, Crash Test Dummies, Nine Inch Nails, Live, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more, began recording at this studio. Bob Pucci, a bass guitarist from Chicago recalls “Royal rocked, I recorded there the whole summer of 1986 with my band The Ultraviolet, that Adrian Belew and Jim Bartz produced. The speakers were custom made Westlakes and the whole place was designed by Carl Yancher. The vibe was perfect… The other cool part was that it was right in the hotel. If you wanted a drink or food, it was right there and the even cooler part was its close proximity to the Alpine Valley concert venue… On any given night while doing my guitar tracks, I'd turn around and on the studio couch would be, The Beach Boys, Jefferson Starship, Mr. Mister... you name it. They all stayed at the hotel there which was called The Americana Inn then.” According to Michael Wagener, a record producer for SkidRow, “The studio was very well equipped and the whole environment was just ideal for a creating a rock album.” He went on to say “They even had a stretched Rolls Royce limo for studio guests to use.” Wagener recalled some of his memories he had about the time he was recording at the studio, including being introduced to jet skis on Geneva Lake, being able to stay in Hugh Hefner's room at the hotel, and seeing incredible rock shows at Alpine Valley every weekend (AC/DC, Judas Priest, White Lion, Guns And Roses, etc.). “The hotel was one of two in the area, so all the bands would stay at "our" hotel and all the kids would hang out in the parking lot, needless to say we had an amazing time” said Wagener. The studio’s production company traveled the world searching for new talent but eventually realized that the money it took to bring the bands to Lake Geneva was more than what the studio earned. So in 1992, Fajerstein sold the studio to two of his engineers and the name was changed to Music Head Studios. Under their direction, Live recorded their ‘Throwing Copper’ album that sold nine million copies and Crash Test Dummies recorded their triple platinum album ‘God Shuffled.’ In 1993, the Americana was put up for auction and rescued by the Marcus Group, who revitalized the hotel and changed the name to the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. The studio continued to operate until 1994 when the business dried up. The studio was given back to Fajerstein who sold off the equipment. Michael Tholen is an engineer who was working with Ministry at the time the equipment became available. He recalls that they “stripped the studio of pretty much everything including the glass and trucked it all down to the new Ministry camp outside of Austin, Texas and began to make the album Filth Pig.” The gear ultimately ended up at Chicago Trax that was bought by R. Kelley, who changed the name to The Chocolate Factory. Grand Geneva's Marketing Director, Courtney Nobilio and Engineer, Randel Scheck, were happy to give us a tour of the department, which is now the Hotel's Engineering Department, and pointed out the elements that still remain. From the soundproofing foam on the walls and the marble flooring where the bands use to play, to the ash paneled soffits, you can get a glimpse of what once stood in the space. Scheck said that many performers stop in to see the old studio space and share stories from their past. Recently, when John Legend was performing in Milwaukee, his saxophonist stopped by the engineering office. “He told us stories about how his father use to record there and as a baby, he would crawl around the floors.” Scheck recalls. “We were also visited by Sebastian Bock of Skid Row about 4 or 5 years ago when he playing at an event in the area.” “You kind of wish these walls could talk.” adds fellow engineer Doug Andrews. So much history was made in this space and from the moment you walk through the reception area and into the studio itself, you can feel the energy. More details and pictures can be found in the book “A Grand Tale: The History of the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa.” You can purchase a copy at the resort. Visit www.grandgeneva.com/timeline/ for more history on this exclusive resort. For details on the specific equipment contained in the Royal Recorders Studio, visit String Station. For a detailed list of everything happening in the Lake Geneva area today, CLICK HERE.

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