Jeff Adams of Wisconsin recently partnered with Sani-Tred on part of the restoration of his families lake house built in the 1880’s. “The BOATHOUSE” is an iconic house built on Lauderdale Lakes in Wisconsin in the Prairie School of Architecture. In the 1920’s Gangsters and their glamorous woman (or sometimes women) would come to The BOATHOUSE to rehearse, regale and naturally, romance.
In 1906, Earl Deakin, a playboy and speedboat racer, was given the home from his parents as a wedding gift. Earl and his wife led the glamorous life with multiple homes in Florida and Chicago. Earl’s passion for speed and the adrenaline rush it produced lead to the design and creation of The BOATHOUSE. In the following years, lots of additions were included, one of those being the wet-boathouse. The wet-boathouse was attached to the main house, which gave easy access to the “Hydro-Bullet,” a world-class hydroplane.
The BOATHOUSE was no stranger to famous guest. The Ziegfeld Follies performed on the Ballroom’s ostentatious rock maple floor. Surrounded by expansive windows giving this beautiful glazing effect. When guest desired something more intimate, they would head over to the opium den or the private swim area.
For the more discrete guest (rumored to be Al Capone), a secret entrance, safe room and a hidden telegraph machine was installed to warn guest of police raids. Guest would elude by going down a secret wall ladder, which lead to a secret room. This room gave quick access to the wet boathouse so guest could escape across the lake.
Now over a 100 years later, Jeffrey Lauderdale Adams and his family have returned to bring back The BOATHOUSE’s once captivating appeal. “The magic of the house remains, restoration has begun and the next 100 years of weddings and parties are being planned.”
In addition to a ground up restoration of the home, the wet boathouse/ swim area were an important part of the history of the project that needed to be restored. Jeff wanted to find a product that would last a lifetime without harming the delicate environment of the Lake. The wet boathouse and swim area were half full of silt that had accumulated over the last 100 years. The safest environmental solution for cleaning up the area was to pump it into a septic truck and haul it away. Then the swim boat areas were coated with Sani-Tred to waterproof and repair them permanently.
Jeff had this to say about the project, “We are restoring a lake house in Wisconsin that dates back to the 1880’s. One unique feature of the house is a lake feed swimming area that’s connected to a wet boathouse. After replacing the 100+ year-old basin with new concrete we wanted to protect that investment from the harsh winters as well as protect the lake. Sani-Tred came highly recommended from the commercial marine contractors that we interviewed and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Thank you Donna and the rest of the Sani-Tred team who provided excellent support during the process of renovating this historic house’s swimming pool.
Check out The Boathouse below on social media for more striking before and after pictures and the history about this amazing house.
This is really a great achievement, congratulations to the entire team who have been part of the restoration.