1. One of the finest historic mansions from the Gilded Age. Is this Oconomowoc, WI or Newport, RI?
This 15,222-square-foot stunner on Wisconsin’s pristine Lac La Belle is widely regarded as the finest mansion in the Midwest. Established in 1928, the thirty-room estate is located in Oconomowoc -- a swanky resort town that beckoned wealthy families from Chicago, St. Louis, and Milwaukee during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Known as Knollward, the mansion was the summer home of Marjorie Montgomery Ward Baker -- heiress to the Montgomery Ward mail order fortune. Built in the French Manor style, the home captures the glamour and sophistication of a bygone era. The estate’s provincial exterior features gabled roofs, dormers, cypress beams, and turreted outlines, while the opulent interiors are bursting with lavish touches such as walnut...
