This Hidden Lakeside Inn Near Milwaukee Is The Perfect Weekend Getaway
By E Jamar|Published May 01, 2018
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E Jamar
Author
E Jamar is a published writer based in Milwaukee, WI. Despite being a Midwesterner at heart, you can often find them trekking throughout the states and discovering new hidden gems. When they're not traveling, you can find them discussing disability issues, cuddling their pug puppy, and checking out new local spots.
As local travel experts, we know what travelers are looking for when it comes to finding the perfect accommodations for their next trip. To compile our lists, we scour the internet to find properties with excellent ratings and reviews, desirable amenities, nearby attractions, and that something special that makes a destination worthy of traveling for.
Milwaukee is an amazing city, and most of us wouldn’t dream of leaving. However, sometimes it’s nice to escape city life for a weekend. This resort just under an hour from Milwaukee in Lake Geneva is the perfect place to take a break. Sit upon the shores of Lake Como, pour a glass of wine and bask in this charming inn.
French Country Inn sits upon the shores of the beautiful Lake Como. The inn offers 33 rooms with balconies just 15 feet from the shoreline, perfect for taking in the sunset.
Many parts of the inn were crafted in Denmark in the 1880s and then brought over to Chicago. After the woodwork was showcased as a Danish Pavilion at a fair that celebrated the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, the buildings were bought and sent by railroad to its current home in Lake Geneva. Before it was ever a resort, what is now French Country Inn was an ice storage house, a private hunt club, and a fishing and hunting resort before it was finally sold to a carpenter who worked on the Danish Pavilion named Christian Hermansen.
The Hermansen family owned the inn for a solid 50 years. At the time, the inn was called Lake Como Hotel and one Hermansen brother, Hobart, hosted some interesting guests. Even though the resort remained family-friendly, Hobart was friends with many well-known members of the John Dillinger gang. The resort housed gangsters such as Baby Face Nelson and George "Bugs" Moran, as well as their wives, molls, and other gangsters. The gang supplied Lake Como Hotel with beer during Prohibition, and in return, the gangsters holed up in the hotel to escape the fuzz. Hobart himself was a character, with a reputation of "Slot Machine King of Walworth County." He ran a gambling den in the basement of the hotel.
A local writer, Clyde Deighton, wrote a novel inspired by the history of the inn called A Murder At The French Country Inn which you can purchase at the hotel today.
