Sellers Asking Nearly $14M for Lake Geneva Estate

A Lake Geneva mansion has hit the market with a price tag that puts it in the exclusive eight-figures club, adding momentum to what’s been a hot streak for the vacation enclave.

The 11,800-square-foot estate at 906 South Lakeshore Drive in Fontana, Wisconsin has been listed for just under $14 million, Crain’s reported. David Curry of Geneva Lakefront Realty is representing the property.

If the mansion sells for close to the asking price, it would be one of the most expensive single-family transactions in Lake Geneva this year. Last month, a 10,000-square-foot lakefront home traded for $16.5 million in an off-market deal, topping all Chicago-area home sales so far in 2023.

While technically not part of the Chicago metropolitan area, Lake Geneva’s luxury market is thriving as a second-home destination for many affluent Chicagoans.

The scarcity of homes on popular inland waters such as Lake Geneva extends to the shores of Lake Michigan, as well. Prices were being pushed higher this year due to low inventory in markets from the suburban North Shore of Chicago southward through Indiana and into southwest Michigan. As supply dwindles, buyers aren’t afraid to cough up big bucks to snag a spot in one of the resort towns when one comes available.

The second-largest Lake Geneva sale this year closed in July, when buyers paid $14 million for a 8,700-square-foot house on Loramoor Drive.

The newly listed Fontana estate, built in 2011 in a Cape Cod style, sits on a little less than 2 acres and offers lake views. Trusts in the names of Terrence and Katherine Ryan bought the lot for $3.35 million in May 2008, according to Walworth County public records.

The home they built has six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and a fieldstone fireplace. The property also features a guest house, an outdoor sports court, a boathouse-style entertainment pavilion near the shoreline and a dock.

— Quinn Donoghue