TEN CHIMNEYS - Genesee Depot, Wisconsin

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“Ten Chimneys” is the lavishly appointed home of two of the legendary greats of the theater, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine. The home has only been opened to the public since 2004.

Any visitor who is even vaguely familiar with the history of theater in the United States and on Broadway in its heyday of the 1920s thru the 1940s knows of the Lunts and their stature among the elite of the Great White Way.

Such stars of stage and screen as Carol Channing and Katherine Hepburn said visiting Ten Chimneys was an extraordinary experience of beauty and taste, a dream and a vision. Channing said “Anybody in the theatre that went to Ten Chimneys felt they had died and gone to Heaven. You were home!”

Visitors find the tour of Ten Chimneys inspirational, whether they were familiar with the Lunts or not!

This is a supremely elegant home of three beautifully appointed stories and is the estate’s “Main House”. Tours can be arranged for a Main House visit or for a visit of the entire estate. A full tour of the Main House’s fourteen rooms takes about ninety minutes.

Tour guides are well versed in every aspect of the history, furnishings, etc. and questions are welcomed. The tour features the Main House Entry Hall, Garden Room, Flirtation Room, Drawing Room, Library, Belasco Room, Helen Hayes Bedroom, Lawrence Olivier Bedroom, Noel Coward Room, Master Bedroom, Lynn’s Dressing Room and Sewing Room, Dining Room and Kitchen.

The rest of the estate tour is of the Swedish Log Cabin Studio, the Enchanting Cottage and the exteriors of the Pool House, Greenhouse and Creamery and other outbuildings. Two hours should be allotted for a tour of the entire estate.

The title of the Lunts 1933 hit Broadway Play “Design for Living” could indeed be representative of the gracious living, high ideals, pursuit of excellence and dedication to craft that the Lunts represent.

The interior and décor of the Main House remains as they were during the time the house was occupied by the Lunts. Furniture, books, window coverings and objects of art are all in their original place.

Special exhibitions are free to visitors taking the tour such as the permanent interactive exhibition “Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine: A Life on Stage”, in which you step through the façade of Broadway’s storied Lunt-Fontaine Theatre.

Ten Chimneys is a forty minute drive southwest of downtown Milwaukee and has been designated a national historic landmark.

• Admission is $35 for the full estate tour and $28 for the Main House tour only
• Children under twelve are not admitted.
• Reservations are recommended.
• The estate is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from April to November 13th.

This is an unforgettable tour of the idyllic retreat filled with memorabilia of the Lunts and illustrious actors and actresses, first edition books and the like.